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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It was a stress-free day at the office for the Callaway Lady Cavaliers.

Facing visiting Haralson County in a Region 5-AA clash on Wednesday, Callaway surged to a 12-0 lead after the first quarter, and it never looked back on the way to a 53-20 victory.

It was a key win for the Lady Cavaliers (9-6 overall), who improved to 5-1 in region play

heading into Friday’s first-place showdown against the Heard County Lady Braves.

Heard County (15-3 overall) is 4-0 in the region, and it beat Callaway 48-40 in the first meeting between the two teams.

In Wednesday’s game, head coach Deyano Martin was unable to be on the bench because of an illness, and assistant coach Sam Cotton moved over to the number one seat for the game.

“They came out and did just about everything we asked them to do,” said Cotton.

With the Haralson County game over with, Callaway’s players and coaches turn their full attention to Heard County with first place on the line.

“The big game is Friday,” Cotton said. “We’ve been preparing for that.”

Cotton is a veteran coach who has been in the business for decades, but Wednesday marked his debut as the head coach during a varsity game.

Cotton joked afterward that he can retire now with an unbeaten record.

“I’ve been here a long time, I’ve coached JV, and this is the first full varsity game that I coached,” Cotton said. “I told (Martin) it’ll just be like you’re here. Do what you have to do.”

Junior guard Gabrielle Johnson did a lot of the damage for Callaway with 27 points, with 13 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

Niakoe Burks and Jazmine Thornton added seven points apiece, and Camryn Stargell scored six points.

Johnson scored six points in the first quarter as they Lady Cavaliers grabbed a 12-0 lead, and they were ahead 23-4 at the half.

Haralson County found a little more offensive success in the second half, but Callaway continued to pull away to win by 33 points.