The Colquitt County boys basketball team is likely to be without DaNas Andrews (15) this week. Andrews, having an outstanding senior season, suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain in the win over Lafayette (Ala.) last Wednesday.

MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County boys basketball team’s 12-2 start to the season and its historical significance has been well-documented.

But just how has Colquitt County —which has not posted a winning record since 2004-2005 nor won as many as 11 games in a season since 2008-2009 — managed such a dramatic turnaround?

This is, after all, a team that went 7-16 last year and 20-49 over the last three and is now ranked No. 10 in Class 7A by MaxPreps.

Packers coach Andy Harden, who was a player on the 1993-1994 team that went 13-11 under coach Keith Hall, did not have to think long when asked that question.

“Chemistry,” Harden said after the Packers defeated Lafayette (Ala.) and Monroe in the Vereen Rehabilitation Center Shoot-Out in their final two games of the 2016 portion of their schedule.

“It’s how well they get along. They really compete in practice. They compete against each other hard. Then they clap each other up.”

And Harden thinks the fact that there is no one go-to guy has helped.

“We’ve had three or four leading us in scoring,” Harden said. “Cam (Singletary) has led us. Tyrese (King) has led us. DaNas (Andrews).

“It’s been a lot of different players. Not just one guy.”

The Packers have received some unsung work from Kaleb Dawson, Quentin Dopson, Trent Roberts, Jarvis Christopher and Jy Andrews.

“I can’t tell you enough about the job Jy has done against the other team’s best guard or best player,” Harden said.

In the win over Monroe, Andrews was the primary reason the Packers were able to hold Ulysses Williams, who was averaging more than 23 points a game, to just 16.

“And some of those were scored when Jy wasn’t guarding him,” Harden said. “Jy is just a phenomenal defender.”

Colquitt County certainly surprised many Georgia High School basketball observers by winning their first 10 games in a row.

The first loss was to undefeated McEachern 52-47 score in the McDonalds Invitational in Tifton.

The other came the next night against Duluth 58-57 in what was the team’s sixth game in six days.

“We just ran out of gas,” Harden said. “But it was good for us.”

After three days off, the Packers won both of their games in the Vereen Rehabilitation Center Shoot-out, but the win over Lafayette was a costly one.

DaNas Andrews suffered what Harden termed a grade two ankle sprain and is likely to be unavailable for both games this week.

“That is a very, very big loss for us,” Harden said. “He has really been playing well.

“And he is really the only physical size that we have.”

The Packers will rely on Dopson, Roberts and King to pick up some of slack in Andrews’s absence.

And Andrews’ absence could be felt tonight against the Trojans, which features a 6-foot-9 player, Harden said.

“Without having DaNas, we are going to have our hands full,” Harden said.

The season has taken on some added importance for Harden and assistant coach Roscoe Singletary, father of Packers point guard Cam Singletary.

Both were members of the 1993-1994 Packers team that  defeated Valdosta twice during the regular season.

But in the region tournament, the Packers fell to the Wildcats, who went on to play in the state championship game.

Harden and Singletary have this year’s team within a victory of equaling the 1993-1994 team’s total.

They also could help put the team in a position to win a state tournament game, a feat not accomplished by a Packers team since 1955.

“Colquitt County basketball is in uncharted territory,” Harden said. “Now we just want to see how far we can go and how good we can be.

“One thing we know is that we can play with anyone in the state.”