By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

The Callaway Cavaliers were without two of their best players Saturday night, and it showed.

Hosting Region 5-AA foe Lamar County, the Cavaliers dropped a 73-63 decision that left the team third in the region standings after leading the region last week.

Playing without seniors Quantavius Leslie and D.J. Rutledge, Callaway (10-4, 5-3) struggled with offensive consistency, especially after key players were limited due to foul trouble.

Leslie and Rutledge each didn’t play due to injuries suffered in Friday’s home loss to Manchester.

But even though the Cavaliers had plenty of reason to make excuses, first-year coach Greg Moultrie gave credit to Lamar (10-7, 5-5), which led for the majority of the game.

“My hat’s off to Lamar,” Moultrie said. “They did what they needed to do to beat us.”

With Leslie and Rutledge out due to a high ankle sprain and a dislocated finger, respectively, the Cavaliers needed to depend on junior guards Quan Bray and Terrance Jackson for leadership.

When Bray and Jackson received foul calls early, it hindered Callaway’s cause even more.

Although Jackson finished with 17 points and Bray had 14, Leslie and Rutledge’s absence was too much to ignore.

“Those guys are double-digit scorers,” Moultrie said. “That gives us 15 to 20 fewer points than we would have.”

Sophomore Ricky Parks and junior Dominique Smedley also netted 11 points each.

It won’t get any easier for Callaway.

The Cavaliers don’t expect Leslie back for “at least two weeks,” and Rutledge is day-to-day, according to Moultrie.

With a road game at Spencer and Heard County visiting the Cavaliers this week, it could be a rough stretch for the Cavaliers.

Spencer, which hosts Callaway on Tuesday, as well as Heard are both in the top four of the region standings.

“We’ve pretty much got one day to fix things up,” Moultrie said. “We’ve got to fix this last little bit before the region tournament starts.”

Moultrie said the team needs to get more comfortable with playing without Leslie and Rutledge.

“When they get more comfortable with the flow of things, we’ll get better,” Moultrie said. “We’ve got to pick it back up.”