MOULTRIE, Ga. – For some high school basketball programs in Georgia, a 6-0 start is a proverbial drop in the bucket.

At Colquitt County High, it’s cause for alarm. But that’s what the Packers and coach Andy Harden are experiencing right now. Ask when the last time this has happened, and the only honest answer to give is … “A long time.”

But the one conclusion to draw from the play of Colquitt County on the hardwood is that there’s no excuse, no reason that this sport and this program can’t be successful in Moultrie.

“It’s extremely important that the kids are realizing that all of their hard work and the thousands of shots they put in this summer and the hours they invested is paying off,” said Harden. “We played some good teams. I think it’s important that our kids realize we can be successful and are going to be successful in basketball.”

It’s especially impressive that, out of the six games, four were in opposing gyms. Those four games bookended the season opener with Crisp County and the Tuesday victory against Bainbridge on William Bryant Court in Moultrie. In between, the Packers won at Dougherty in Albany, Thomas County-Central, Worth County and Bainbridge.

“The transition of having our football kids coming back has been a lot better this year,” said Harden, who uses Cameron Singletary in the starting lineup and has Kaleb Dawson and Jarvis Christopher playing off the bench. “Those kids worked hard with us in the summer … invested a lot of time with our basketball team. Building that chemistry has been much easier. They get along so well together.”

Singletary, a productive receiver in football, is the Packer point guard, and he would be an easy target for hype and all of the credit. But Colquitt County basketball is not a one-man show, not even a five-man show with only a solid starting lineup. Nizarre Thompson, for example, scored 16 points off the bench Tuesday in beating Bainbridge.

Singletary is averaging 10.6 points per game with most of his shooting (10-for-31) from 3-point range. He is also second on the team with 10 steals. Tyrese King is the leading in scoring with 12.6 points per game (51 percent in 2-point range). DaNas Andrews is second at 11.4 points per game. King and Andrews are tied for second in rebounding behind Quentin Dopson.

“Even though (Cameron’s) not our leading scorer, he does so much as far as steering the ship,” said Harden. “Now we have developed other kids who can take on roles to where Cameron doesn’t have to do it all. We have kids who are good at catch-and-shoot, drive-and-kick.

“But we hang our hat on defense. I believe we are a pretty good defensive team. Our team goals for defense are three to five charges a game, limit the opposing team to 12 offensive rebounds minimum, communicate and hold the turnovers to single digits. We’ve taken 16 charges in six games.”

In offensive rebounds, the Packers have 69. Harden said that’s a chance the team gives itself to score 20 more points. On the defensive side, they have 116 boards for a total average of 37 per game.

“We don’t have a lot of big kids,” said Harden. “We have to get after it on the defensive end, cause turnovers, make people drive, get in help position and take charges.

“I’ve never questioned the effort of our kids. Jy Andrews, he brings it every night (he is the team leader in steals with 12). We had three kids at the end of the season last year we called the ‘Three-headed horseman.’ Jy Andrews, Dawson and Christopher. They are starting to get their basketball legs under them. That’s who we rotated on the opposition’s best guards. That freed up Singletary. They do a great job hustling around, diving on the floor.”

By Christmas, Colquitt County basketball will have doubled its game total to 12. If they double the win total, that’s worth a championship celebration itself. Yes, the Packers are going to play six games in six days beginning Monday, three at the Big South Shootout at Lowndes High (the site of the 2017 Region 1-7A tournament) and three at the McDonald’s Invitational at Tift County High (see accompanying schedule).

The Packers did not practice Wednesday and Thursday for downtime. They will get another two-day break after all of this action, then it’s back on the court at home for the Vereen Rehabilitation Shootout Dec. 27-29.

The 6-0 record Harden and his team would crave more is in the six games they play in January in Region 1-7A. Circle the date on the new calendars for Jan. 13 when the Packers play at Tift County, a top 10 and recent state championship program that is the preseason favorite.

“Eric (Holland) does a great job with Tift County,” said Harden. “They do have some really good players. We are going to tip it up and get after them and see what we can do. The mindset has changed in our program. Instead of avoiding challenges – like going through these six games next week – we are going to accept the challenge. We are going to see what we can improve on … and get ready for our region play.”

And winning the other region games with Lowndes and Camden County means not having to see Tift – should the Blue Devils be the No. 1 seed – in the region semifinals.