By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

le-digit deficit in the first half, the Callaway Lady Cavaliers didn’t panic.

Callaway overcame that challenging start and rallied for a 49-46 victory over Heard County in the third-place game in the Region 5-AA tournament on Saturday at Lamar County.

Elbert County, the number two seed from Region 8-AA, will host Callaway (13-9) on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the state tournament.

Callaway lost out on a chance to play for a region championship when it lost to Bremen in the semifinals on Thursday.

Callaway returned to Barnesville for Saturday’s third-place game, and it wasn’t going well early.

The Lady Cavaliers kept fighting, though, and they found a way to beat their rivals from Franklin for the third time this season.

“Heard came out and hit us in the mouth,” Callaway coach Deyano Martin said. “We showed some resilience, and we ended up fighting and playing the whole game. We hung around.”

Heard County led 18-12 after the first quarter, and it was ahead 30-21 at the half.

Heard County’s lead was down to 34-31 by the close of the third quarter, and Callaway scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to secure the come-from-behind win.

“We had to put it in another gear,” Martin said. “And we chipped away on that lead, and we finally got where we wanted to be.”

A pair of talented freshmen led Callaway in scoring.

Gabrielle Johnson was tops with 17 points, and she made six consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter.

Camryn Stargell added 14 points, and Kierra Jackson scored eight points.

“They played really hard, and gave it everything they had,” Martin said. “They left it all on the line tonight. That’s all you can ask for.”