Henry Daniels takes a lay-up in Colquitt County High's basketball game Friday at Monroe High in Albany.

ALBANY – Coming off a 10-day layoff in game action, Colquitt County High’s boys basketball team struggled to find consistent scoring rhythms in two straight contests at the annual USave It Pharmacy Holiday Classic hosted by Monroe High School. With the losses, the Packers of coach Tremaine Facison fell to 3-5 overall heading into the three-day Vereen Rehabilitation Christmas tournament beginning Thursday.

On Saturday afternoon, Colquitt County took on the Statesboro High Blue Devils, which prevailed 70-52.

Statesboro jumped out to a 10-3 lead by running the floor from the block of a lay-in attempt by Colquitt senior post Henry Daniels. As the Blue Devils were near perfect in their half-court execution of inside and outside scoring, they set up the three-quarters court press and stifled Colquitt’s offense. Dy Williams of the Packers was able to make two 3-point baskets, but his team still trailed 17-8 at 3:09.

Lemeke Brockington, off Facison’s bench, broke that Blue Devil press with an assist to Daniels, and reserve guard Omarian Daniels grabbed a defensive board gave an outlet feed to Brockington. This was the Packers’ best spurt of the game, and another substitute guard, Montavious Ponder, found starter Elijah Scott on the inbound. He sunk the 3-pointer completing a 7-0 run.

Statesboro had five chances inside in a row to score but came up empty. Henry Daniels finally got the rebound for Colquitt in the closing seconds, and it was 17-15 Blue Devils going to the second period.

The Packers enjoyed its one and only lead Saturday when Ponder, two steps from the arc, sank the 3-ball. But in three of its next four possessions (the fourth broken up by Scott’s steal), Statesboro regained its execution touch and command of the scoreboard. At 2:46 until halftime, Tyler Walker hit a trey ending a long Colquitt scoring drought. The Blue Devils answered that make with a transition 2.

With the Blue Devils in a 2-3 zone, the Packers missed four other long-range tries. In the final minute, Statesboro dribbled baseline and scored while Colquitt was just barely losing possession of the basketball and committing a charging foul. The Blue Devils, in the last second, received three foul shots but only put one through.

At the half the Packers were down seven, 30-23. Quietly, in the third period, Statesboro stretched that advantage to 12. Any easy shot Colquitt tried did not go through, but the Blue Devils had better luck and led 37-24. The Packers then lost the basketball attempting to go inside the zone, and the opponent earned a three-point opportunity to go up 41-24.

Walker, at 4:06 of the quarter, put through his team’s first field goal. But the Blue Devils had the tempo going so quick the Packers were missing open lay-ins. Brockington did score on the offensive boards in the final minute, but it was 50-31.

Henry Daniels scored three baskets early in the fourth period, and Walker added seven to the Packer tally only to see Statesboro answer each time.

FRIDAY’S ACTION

Colquitt faced another basketball team from the Coastal Empire in Albany over the weekend. On Friday, it was the Glynn Academy Red Terrors taking the court and handing the Packers a 74-47 setback.

Each team’s plan was to score and set its own tempo defensively. Colquitt scored on five possessions in a row during the first eight minutes, and when Glynn hit a foul-line jumper at 1:49 the Packers were still on top 10-8. However, a half-court turnover followed, and the Terrors ripped through a 3-ball to go back ahead 11-10.

Henry Daniels’ open lay-up with two seconds on the clock tied the game going into the second quarter. It was a bad three minutes of basketball for the Packers at the beginning, and Glynn led 21-14 with a 3-ball at 4:59. Scott got those 3 back on his end, but couldn’t convert 2 from a Brockington steal. Walker also stole the basketball out of a timeout, and when Colquitt gained nothing from that Glynn jumped ahead 27-17 at 2:20.

For the rest of the game, the Packers were creating turnovers … and more often than not giving them right back. That happened to Ponder when he found the ball in his hands under Glynn’s goal. The Terrors reeled off another five straight in a minute’s time. When Colquitt did capitalize on a takeaway (by Scott) it was Aaron Long putting back a missed foul shot for a four-point possession.

But at halftime the Terrors were ahead by 11, 34-23.

Facison had Omarian Daniels and Brockington on the floor to start the second half and lead a full-court pressing effort. With a remarkable put-back by Ponder, the Packers shaved the lead down to four, 36-32, two minutes in. Ponder added an assist to Henry Daniels, who was getting steals along with Omarian and Scott.

Glynn, at 4:15, put a halt to the momentum with a 3-pointer. As the Packers struggled to get shots up for about two minutes, the Terrors ran the floor to convert a takeaway and got a three-point play on dribble penetration (50-36).

Brockington’s put-back in the final minute came around three other missed lay-ups. The fourth quarter began with the score 55-38, and it took about two minutes for the Packers to get a trey out of Williams.