MOULTRIE — In 1986, the Colquitt County High girls basketball team finished 21-3 in Julian Grantham’s last season as the school’s girls basketball coach.

It was third 20-win season in a row for the Colquitt County girls and fourth in the eight years that Grantham was the head coach.

The Lady Packers did not have another such season until 2000-2001, when Joe Parker’s team went 21-7.

The 2005-2006 team matched that win total last month when it went 21-10 and advanced to the advanced to the Elite Eight in the Class AAAAA girls basketball tournament.

After defeating highly regarded Morrow on the road and Lovejoy at the Macon Centreplex, the Lady Packers saw their season came to an end just a win short of the Final Four in a 59-48 overtime loss to Redan.

But the Colquitt County girls were rewarded for what was one of the most successful seasons in school history by being ranked No. 6 in the final Georgia Sports Writers Association poll.

The Lady Packers, who finished third in Region 1-AAAAA in the regular season and third in the tournament, were the only region team ranked in the top 10.

Tift County received one vote, but was not ranked.

“Before it started, I thought we’d have a good season,” said Parker, who is now 135-116 in his nine season as the Lady Packers head coach.

“We beat some really good teams. And we had the chance to finish off Redan. It wasn’t meant to be, I guess. But we had a fun year.”

State champion Collins Hill was ranked No. 1 in the final poll, followed by state runner-up South Gwinnett, Redan, Stephenson, Campbell, Colquitt County, Mill Creek, Bradwell Institute, Beach and McEachern.

Colquitt County defeated one top-10 team this season, knocking off Worth County 70-34 in the season-opener.

The Lady Rams avenged that loss with a 50-47 victory in December. Worth finished No. 7 in Class AAA.

One of the Lady Packers other losses came against another top-10 team.

Colquitt lost by two to Westside of Macon 47-45 in the Great Southern Shootout in December.

The Lady Seminoles finished No. 9 in Class AAAA.

The Colquitt County roster included freshmen Alexa Isaacs, Ashley Patillo and Nicolle Thomas; sophomores Taquella Coates, Selica Daniels, Laquita Smith and Tiffany Troupe; junior Nikki Hudson; and seniors Jessica Lemus, Ashley Stafford and Dorothy Strong.

Stafford was named to the All-Region 1-AAAAA first team. Coates was named to the second team.

Lemus was a four-year starter and a two-time All-Region selection who played on a surgically repaired knee during her final season.

Stafford was a three-year starter. Strong started for two seasons, as has Hudson.

“When you’ve got kids who have been in the program that long, you should have good year,” Parker said.

Parker said that going into the season he knew Lemus was a question mark because of doubts about her knee.

But Strong improved her point guard play immensely over the summer and with Stafford developing into one of the top three or four players in the region, the Lady Packers were expected to contend for the region title.

The biggest surprise was the development of Coates, the sophomore post player who averaged 10 points and more than six rebounds a game.

The Lady Packers could make another run next season, despite the loss of Lemus, Stafford and Strong.

Hudson and Coates will be the building blocks, along with Nicolle Thomas who had a solid freshman season and has the potential to be one of the top players in the region.

Smith also is expected to get a starting position. If those four develop, the Lady Packers could have more scoring punch than they have shown in recent years.