By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

MANCHESTER - Quantavius Leslie’s 3-pointer was too little, too late.

The Callaway junior’s basket with less than 20 seconds remaining cut the Cavaliers’ deficit to two points against Manchester in the Region 5-AA championship game Saturday night, but it was all downhill from there.

Manchester found a wide open player streaking down the sideline for an easy basket to go up by four, and after Callaway scored to cut the lead to two again, another fast break went against the Cavaliers.

Manchester downed Callaway 66-62 to take its second straight region tournament title.

The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers kept pace with the No. 1-seeded Blue Devils throughout the game.

Callaway was down by four at the half after being behind by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, and the Cavaliers even managed to climb back from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to come within three.

Manchester simply made the baskets when it needed to, keeping Callaway from avenging its two regular season losses to the Blue Devils.

“(Manchester) doesn’t have a lot of go-to players, but they all play together,”Callaway assistiant coach Ken Mapp said. “They’re a good team.”

The loss gives the Cavaliers a No. 2 seed for the Class AA state tournament, and Callaway will host Westminster School Saturday in the first round.

Leslie finished with a game-high 25 points, followed by David Rutledge with 12, Quan Bray with nine and Theo Thomas with eight.

Four Manchester players scored in double digits, and Kelvin Hardnett led the way with 12.

Mapp said turnovers in the second quarter were key, and they kept the Cavaliers from taking control of the game.

“We kept lofting the ball up when we were passing it, and they were picking them off,” Mapp said. “We did that five or six times, and that led to at least 10 points against us.”

Callaway climbed back from a nine-point deficit near the start of the fourth quarter. Bray sunk a 3-pointer - Callaway’s first of the night - to cut the lead to 60-57 with less than 1:30 on the clock.

The array of Manchester baskets in the last minute was a result of coverage breakdowns, according to Mapp.

“We were supposed to go in a full-court press to try to take the ball away,” Mapp said. “We didn’t do that.”