HAMILTON – They tried to fight their way back into it.

The Callaway Lady Cavaliers were staring at a 25-point deficit moments into the third quarter, but they found a spark and got within 12 points early in the fourth period.

The rally ended right there, though, and it was Harris County dominating the rest of the game to claim a 59-33 victory on its home floor.

“It was another slow start,” Callaway head coach Deyano Martin said. “That keeps happening to us. It was another rocky start.”

The Lady Cavaliers were down 14-5 after the first quarter, and by the half they were down 30-11.

The halftime break did nothing to slow the momentum of the Lady Tigers, who used a 6-0 run to build a 36-11 lead two minutes into the third quarter.

The Lady Cavaliers rallied.

Beginning with a Zamari Hardnett 3-pointer, Callaway went on a 15-5 run to end the third quarter, cutting Harris County’s lead to 41-26.

The Lady Cavaliers kept it going early in the fourth period, and when Ki Ki Owens made a 3-pointer with 6:25 to play, it was a 43-31 game.

In a span of about eight minutes, the Lady Cavaliers had outscored the Lady Tigers 20-7, and they had gotten themselves in position to possibly pull off a huge comeback on the road.

The remainder of the game belonged to Harris County, though.

The Lady Tigers finished the game on a 16-2 run to win going away.

“You have to spend so much energy getting back in it,” Martin said. “It was too late.”

Martin said his team was unable to overcome Harris County’s dominance on the boards.

“We couldn’t rebound,” Martin said. “We didn’t do a good job of boxing out all night. We let them get every board. They got a lot of putbacks.”

Chyna Cameron led the Lady Cavaliers with seven points, and Hardnett, Owens and Alexus Scott added six points apiece.

Taziha Fanning had 23 points for Harris County, including nine points in the fourth quarter.

Callaway (2-5) will be on the road against Lanett on Tuesday before beginning its Region 5-AAA schedule on Friday at Central-Carroll.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports