Two exciting games resulted in two disappointing finishes for the Callaway basketball teams Tuesday night against Region 5-AA foe Manchester.

It was a full house for Callaway’s home opener, with the Lady Cavs falling 53-43 and the Cavaliers losing 78-74.

The boys’ game was in question until the very end, but the Cavaliers were ultimately downed by the Blue Devils, who are defending Region 5-AA tournament champions.

Callaway won the region’s regular-season title a season ago.

The boys trailed 11-2 early, and never could grasp the lead the entire game, despite a 30-point effort from Quantavius Leslie.

While the Blue Devils were ahead by 11 points at halftime, the Cavaliers outscored Manchester 22-13 in the third quarter and tied the game for the first time with less than eight minutes to play.

With less than a minute left, Bernard Phillips tied the game at 74-74 on two free throws.

Manchester was able to score an easy layup on its next possession, giving the Cavaliers the ball with less than 30 seconds left.

Phillips made a 3-pointer that would have given the Cavaliers their first lead of the game, but as he was shooting, the officials granted a timeout to Callaway.

After the timeout, the Cavaliers were unable to sink a basket and turned it over to the Blue Devils, who were fouled and made their next two free throws to end the Cavaliers’ chances.

While missed opportunities near the end of the game cost the Cavaliers, it wasn’t why they lost, according to Hayes.

“We couldn’t stop them on defense,” Hayes said. “We just have to go back to work.”

Phillips had 13 points for Callaway, and Lamichael Fanning was next with seven points.

Despite the loss, Hayes and the Cavaliers are looking forward to the next game, which is Friday against Region 5-AA foe Lamar County.

That game will be played at Callaway Elementary School in Hogansville.

The girls’ game tips at 6 p.m., followed by the boys game at 7:30 p.m.

“We played OK for our third game,” Hayes said. “We just have to focus on Lamar County now.”

The girls were also competitive in the first half, but were outscored 13-4 in the third quarter to give the lady Blue Devils their second win of the year.

“We just had a third quarter swoon,” head coach Albert Gilliam said. “When we come out after the half and just get cold. (Manchester) made some adjustments and we didn’t react.”

Tersheor Tigner led the lady Cavs with 13 points, followed by Jaquincia Ca-meron with 12 and Erin Anderson with 10 points.

Gilliam said missed free throws and turnovers were ultimately why the Lady Cavaliers were handed their second loss of the year.

The play of Manchester’s Whitney Bryant, who totaled 16 points, was also a driving force in the Blue Devils’ win.

“We need to work on knowing where we need to with the ball,” Gilliam said. “We need to run our offense that’s established and not stand around waiting for the ball to come to us.”