MOULTRIE – JaKari Byrd led the Colquitt County boys basketball team to a victory on Tuesday that will allow him and his fellow seniors one last opportunity to play in the state tournament.
The Packers eliminated Richmond Hill in a Region 1-6A playoff game with 46-33 win on the William Bryant Court.
The victory allows the Packers to meet region tournament host Valdosta at 7 p.m. Thursday in one semifinal.
It also guarantees that Colquitt will have one of the region’s four playoff berths in the state tournament that starts February 18.
And while Colquitt is the lowest of the four remaining seeds in the region tournament, Colquitt County coach Andy Harden sees no reason why the Packers can’t knock off Valdosta on Thursday and guarantee a first-round state tournament game in Moultrie.
Colquitt already owns one victory over Valdosta this season, a 45-43 win at home back on January 14.
The Packers had to go on the road for their state tournament openers the last two years.
Colquitt’s boys have not played a state tournament game at home since 2020, when they lost to Kennesaw Mountain.
“I’m proud that our seniors get a chance go to the state tournament, hopefully in a different capacity,” Harden said following the win over Richmond Hill.
And if the Packers can find a way past Valdosta on Thursday, their region tournament championship game opponent will be either Tift County or Lowndes.
And the Packers split their regular-season meetings with both of those teams.
“It will be anybody’s ball game,” Harden said of the meeting with regular-season region champion Valdosta. “We just need to make sure we take care of business, do the things we know how to do. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
Harden said that despite having defeated Richmond Hill twice during the regular season – and in the region play-in game each of the last two years – he was wary of the Wildcats.
Richmond Hill proved capable at times this season, with region wins over both Valdosta and Tift County.
“Coach (Bill) Henderson does a great job,” Harden said of Richmond Hill. “They play hard and are extremely well-coached.
“We’ve played them in the play-in games the last three games and at some point you think your luck is going to run out.”
The Packers were not able to shake the Wildcats until the last five minutes on Tuesday.
Colquitt helped, scoring just four points in the third quarter and allowing the Wildcats to pull to within three points less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
But a 3-pointer by Cason Harden with 5:48 left extended Colquitt’s lead 33-27.
Then, with just over two minutes remaining, Byrd got loose inside for a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions to put the Packers up by 10.
Harden added a free throw and senior Kanilyn Jones slammed home a basket with 1:03 remaining to put the Packers up 42-31.
Two free throws each by Harden and Jones in the final 53.7 put the game away.
“We kind of lost our way,” Andy Harden said of the four-point third quarter. “They went on a run, but we weathered the run.”
Byrd had a big game with some crucial rebounds and 14 points, including six in the final 4:27, helping the Packers pull away.
His jumper from the free-throw line with 2:40 remaining put the Packers up by eight.
“I asked him to play like a man and I thought he played well,” Andy Harden said. “I’m proud of him.”
Jones led the Packers with 18 points and Cason Harden added nine.
Like Byrd, both scored six points in the final quarter.
Marcus Moore and Ja’Shar Kinsey each had two points.
Amari Jordan scored eight points to lead Richmond Hill, which finishes 9-13 overall and 3-8 in the region.
The Packers are 15-6 overall and 7-4 in region games as they head to Valdosta.