By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It was there for the taking.

The Callaway Lady Cavaliers stood toe-to-toe with East Coweta on Saturday afternoon, only to fall short 61-58 in a game that was close throughout.

The Lady Cavaliers got within one on a Gabrielle Johnson free throw with 44 seconds left, but they didn’t score again.

While the Lady Cavaliers were unable to finish things off, head coach Deyano Martin had no complaints with the effort the players gave.

“One thing I always tell them. People pay their money to come watch the game, and one thing you can always give them is effort,” Martin said. “People pay money to come watch the game, and the least you can do is play hard. And I think we do a good job of that.”

Gabrielle Johnson, one of Callaway’s talented freshmen, led the home team with 21 points, and Kierra Jackson added 17 points, with nine of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

Niakoe Burks scored eight points, and she was 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.

The Lady Cavaliers led 32-28 at

the half, and after they lost the lead, they went back on top with a Jasmine Dukes basket with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

Callaway built a four-point lead with five minutes to go on a Jackson basket, but East Coweta went on an 8-2 run to take the lead with 3:40 to play.

After Callaway tied it on a Johnson basket, East Coweta reclaimed the lead, this time for good, with 1:08 to play.

Callaway will play Northside at 3:15 on Thursday in a tournament at Jordan High in Columbus.