MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County girls basketball team executed its coach’s game plan to perfection on Tuesday and avenged an early-season loss to Tift County.
Trailing by two after the first quarter, the Lady Packers outscored the Lady Devils 34-20 the rest of the way to take a 46-34 victory on the William Bryant Court.
The win raises the Colquitt County girls record to 3-4 in Region 1-6A and 14-5 overall.
One of those region losses came by 47-36 score on January 17 in Tifton.
But the Lady Packers held Tift to just four fourth-quarter points on Tuesday to drop the Lady Devils to 2-4 in the region and 8-11 overall.
Colquitt got 20 points from Amira Walters-Smith, including nine in the second quarter, to help put the Lady Devils away.
Walters-Smith did not hit a 3-pointer, but was successful driving for layups through the Tift County defense.
But Colquitt County coach Stephanie Cody said her team’s attention to the game plan was the difference.
“Sometimes it’s not what people are doing to you, it’s what you are doing to yourself,” Cody said. “Tonight, they listened. I gave them a gut-check. I told them, ‘If you are going to put ‘Lady Packers’ across your chest, you’ve got to take some pride in it.”
“And tonight, they didn’t waver.”
Tift’s Mariyah Batts hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give Tift County a 14-12 lead after the first quarter.
But Colquitt’s Caylnn Singletary hit a 3-pointer of her own just 12 seconds into the second quarter and Walters-Smith ran off nine of the game’s next 11 points to put the Lady Packers up 24-16 at the half.
Although Tift scored the final four points of the half, Colquitt was ahead to stay.
Each team scored 10 points in the third quarter, but Tift managed just a basket by Amaya Jordan and two free throws by Jalaya Miller in the final quarter.
Colquitt also got eight points from Nacardia Robinson, seven from Amareyia Knighton, six from Singletary and five from Ta’Meria Williams.
Miller led the Lady Devils with 11points. Mackenzie Holliday had seven, Batts and Jaziah Johnson each had six and Jordan chipped four for Tift County, which has dropped five of its last seven games.
Colquitt’s girls will face Lowndes, 16-2 and ranked No. 5 in Class 6A, on Friday.
The Lady Packers have dropped two meetings to the Vikettes this season, falling 71-38 in the Lee County Girl Power tournament and 64-37 in a region game on January 7, at Lowndes.
Camden County, currently 4-2 in the region and 15-6 overall, will visit the Hawgnasium on Saturday in a game that will tip off at 5 p.m.
The Lady Packers fell to Camden 51-44 in their region-opener on January 3, in Kingsland.