By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

The Callaway Cavaliers want to make amends for their first loss in a long time.

While the loss to Manchester in the Region 5-AA championship game still lingers around the Cavaliers’ gymnasium, head coach Terry Hayes and the team are focusing on making up for Saturday’s loss with a win over Westminster School this weekend in the first round of the Class AA state tournament.

The game will be played in Callaway’s home gym on Saturday at 6 p.m.

“(The loss) helped bring us back down to Earth,” said Hayes, who guided the Cavaliers to 11 straight victories prior to the setback.

With their eyes set on improving on last season’s one-and-done performance in the state tournament, the No. 2-seeded Cavaliers have poured over Westminster game film this week in anticipation of Saturday’s home test.

The third-seeded Wildcats have had an up-and-down season with an 8-6 record in Region 6-AA, but Westminster defeated Decatur by two points last weekend to avoid a No. 4 seed.

“I see a big, athletic team,” Hayes said. “They run great sets on offense and are fundamentally sound.”

Westminster’s Maalik Reynolds figures to be the Cavaliers’ biggest obstacle, as the junior stands at 6-feet-5-inches and is the Wildcats’ undoubted leader.

Hayes said the Wildcats are “bigger all around” than the Cavaliers, but his team will likely have a depth advantage.

“Our bench is probably better than (Westminster’s),” Hayes said. “But they have some big players.”

The Manchester loss could be a blessing to some Callaway players, as the setback has refocused many Cavaliers, including seniors Quay Boddie and Theo Thomas.

“A lot of times in sports, you have to deal with adversity,” said Boddie, who was also a standout on the Cavaliers’ football team. “You have to handle it and not get your hopes up. We’ll be going into state having watched film and practice all our plays, and I think we’ll have a good shot.”‘

Thomas has seen Westminster’s size on film, and notes if the team can stay focused they’re already ready.

“We just have to keep our heads down and stay focused on the game,” Thomas said. “We’re practicing hard this week, and we’ll be ready.”

In the loss to Manchester, the Cavaliers were playing toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils despite trailing by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter.

Hayes says that with about three minutes remaining, an errant pass that would have given Callaway an easy layup to tie the game ended up costing his team.

“We never got the momentum back after that,” Hayes said. “We couldn’t capitalize on their mistakes.”

This week, Hayes is making sure that won’t happen again by focusing on the team’s defensive pressure and “boxing out” players like Reynolds.

“We have to keep (Reynolds) off the glass,” Hayes said. “That will be a key.”

His defensive emphasis is embedded in his players, including Thomas.

“We have to play hard defense,” Thomas said. “Defense wins games, and we just have to run the offense.”