MOULTRIE — Points off of turnovers is a statistic that coaches don’t often talk much about.

Colquitt County girls basketball coach Joe Parker plans to make it a big part of his planning for the 2006 part of this season’s schedule after his Lady Packers lost 47-45 to Westside-Macon on Thursday in the Division I championship game of the Great Southern Shootout in Macon.

Parker said his his team missed four “runouts,” chances for layups, which had the Lady Packers made them, “we would have won by six.”

As it is, the Colquitt County girls will take an 7-4 record into the second segment of the schedule, which starts Tuesday, Jan. 3, at Thomas County Central.

The Lady Packers had defeated their first two opponents by 21 points each in the tournament, played at Westside-Macon.

The Lady Seminoles were much tougher than either Dougherty or Vidalia, but the Lady Packers led 39-36 heading into the final quarter.

But poor shooting — Colquitt was just 13-for-48 from the floor — caught up with the Lady Packers in the final eight minutes.

Colquitt had a chance to send the game into overtime, but missed three shots from inside the paint in the closing seconds.

“We shot it three times and never did get fouled,” Parker said. “It was just an awful ending. Sometimes you just can’t make it happen.”

Parker said he team played “really, really well,” but the four breakaway layups hurt.

“That’s something we are just not doing,” Parker said.

Jessica Lemus led the Lady Packers with 11 points and Nikki Hudson added 10 with 5-for-9 shooting from the field. Dorothy Strong added eight, Taquella Coates and Ashley Stafford each had seven and Laquita Smith had two.

Coates had 18 points in each of the first two games in Macon and was named to the All-Tournament team.

Coates also had seven rebounds against Westside, giving her 27 for the three games in the tournament.

Stafford did not shoot well, but had eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

For the second night in a row, the Lady Packers were sterling from the free throw line, converting 12-of-15. Lemus was 7-for-9.

And while frustrated at the loss, Parker was pleased with the improved free-throw shooting and with the way his team is running its offense.

“The lights are starting to come on,” he said. “We are seeing the second and third options. We got the shots where we wanted them.

“I think a game like this really helps us. This was a much better calibre team than we faced the first two games.”