If your throat stay sore more than 72 hours and you have a fever, it is likely to be strep, and you must go to the doctor for a culture. The other possibility is mono. Strep does not have congestion like a cold.
Typically a cold starts with a sore throat, it lasts for 24–48 hours, then you get a brief lull in symptoms, the throat pain pretty much disappears, and then the congestion starts, runny/stuffy nose, etc.
For your sore throat drink cold to cool drinks (hot inflames the throat more, hot liquids are for colds with stuffy noses). Use chloresptic spray, you can spray it often, and tylenol can help.
If it is strep, which can be very painful, you can ask your doctor for xylocaine along with your antibiotic presciption. the Xylocaine you gargle and swallow, and it will numb your throat completely for a few hours, but you cannot use it before you go to sleep. Most doctor do not prescribe it, which I find very dissappointing, because strep is so painful it is hard to even stay hydrated, because swallowig is so painful. Oh, that is another thing, sore throats due to a cold usually is not very painful to swallow, strep is typically agony.