HOGANSVILLE – The Central-Carroll Lions tried to make things interesting.

The Lions stayed with the Callaway Cavaliers for much of the first half on Tuesday, and they were within two points with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half.

The Cavaliers closed the first half with a flourish to take a 10-point lead, though, and they continued to pour it on in the second half on the way to an 81-57 victory.

It was more of the same for the Cavaliers (12-3 overall), who improved to 6-0 in Region 5-AAA.

Callaway beat Central-Carroll by eight points in its region opener, but it has won its other five region games by at least 20 points.

The Cavaliers didn’t lose a region game in the regular season or the tournament last season, and they’re looking like a pretty good bet to repeat that feat this year.

In Tuesday’s game, the Lions did some nice things in the first half, and they got within two when Jarred Jackson made a 3-pointer with 2:25 left in the second quarter.

Callaway head coach Terry Hayes, whose team beat Central-Carroll 84-76 earlier this season, wasn’t surprised that it was a competitive game early.

“We know they’re a good team,” Hayes said. “They hit some big threes. They were breaking down our pressure.”

After Jackson’s 3-pointer, the Cavaliers regained control, and they didn’t look back.

Beginning with a Braylon Sanders basket with 2:11 left in the first half, the Cavaliers went on an 11-0 run to stretch their lead to 38-25.

Martin and Sanders did all of the scoring during the run.

Martin had seven of the points, and his three-point play with 38 seconds left in the half pushed the lead to 13.

Central-Carroll got a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, but Callaway led 38-28.

The Cavaliers put it away in the third period, outscoring the Lions 26-9 to take a 64-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

Martin, who like most of the starters spent a good portion of the fourth quarter resting on the bench, led Callaway with 19 points.

Joe Brown added 15 points, and Sanders scored 10 points, with eight of those points coming in the second quarter.

Kedrick Ramsey, one of Callaway’s bench players who played well, added nine points, Ernest Patillo scored seven points, and Tamarcus Smith had six points, all in the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers have four region games remaining, beginning with Friday’s home game against Haralson County.

On Saturday, Callaway will visit Cedartown, and it closes the regular season next week with games against Pepperell and Rockmart.

Callaway will then try to win a fourth consecutive region-tournament championship.

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