By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

It was expected to be a thriller, and it didn’t disappoint.

Just five total points separated the Callaway and Troup basketball teams in their two meetings last year, with each team winning a game.

Saturday night in the championship game of the Callaway Invitational, a back-and-forth match-up ultimately went to the Cavaliers 57-54.

Trailing by as many as seven points with less than four minutes remaining, Callaway outscored Troup 16-6 the rest of the way.

The comeback was largely made possible by senior Quantavius Leslie.

While Leslie fouled out late in the game, his 26 points led all scorers and he made a pair of clutch free throws to bring Callaway within one point with 1:52 left.

Leslie was named the tournament MVP, as he also scored 21 in the Cavaliers’ semifinal win over Northside Friday night.

“That’s always special when a Callaway player wins the MVP and Callaway wins the tournament,” said Cavaliers’ head coach Greg Moultrie.

It wasn’t looking good for Callaway late in the game.

The Cavaliers trailed for most of the first half, although Troup never gained more than a five-point lead until midway through the fourth quarter.

When the Tigers went ahead by seven points on a layup from senior Jonathan Boswell, Callaway’s Quan Bray followed a Leslie layup with a huge 3-pointer to close the Troup lead to 48-46 with 2:50 left.

Bray finished with 15 points.

Callaway surged ahead 51-50 with 1:30 left on a Terrance Jackson field goal, and the Cavaliers never trailed again.

“We keep showing heart,” Moultrie said. “What we need to do is just put a complete game together. We haven’t had a complete game since the first game of the year. The guys continued to show a lot of heart, and I’m happy for the guys.”

Despite the loss, Troup played well and had its chances.

The Tigers led 24-21 at the half and answered the bell each time Callaway went ahead in a wild third quarter, which saw eight lead changes.

Senior Kannan Patterson led the Tigers with 16 points, followed by Boswell with 14 and Kendrcik Ward with 12.

The Tigers will have their chance at revenge tonight at Callaway in a regular season game.

Last season, the Cavaliers defeated Troup in the Callaway Invitational title game before the Tigers rebounded with a two-point win the following Monday.

Moultrie is expecting another tough battle tonight.

“I think Troup’s going to come in here with revenge on their minds,” Moultrie said. “They’re going to make some adjustments, and we’re going to make some too. It will be a pretty interesting game.”