CARROLLTON – After Friday’s tough loss to Pepperell in the semifinals of the Region 5-AAA tournament, Callaway girls’ coach Deyano Martin was a bit concerned about how his team would respond the following day.

After Callaway’s region-title hopes were dashed with a 45-43 loss to Pepperell, it had to return to Central-Carroll High on Saturday afternoon to play Rockmart in the third-place game.

Turns out, Martin had no reason to worry.

The Lady Cavaliers surged to a 14-5 lead after the first quarter, and they went on to claim a 57-53 win to wrap up the region’s number three seed for the state tournament.

Callaway will be on the road to play Hart County on Tuesday in a first-round game.

“They came out with a lot of energy,” Martin said. “I didn’t think they would. I thought they’d be a little down, but they weren’t.”

Callaway got a big game from sophomore post player Chyna Cameron, who was unstoppable early.

Cameron scored 18 points, and she had 10 of those points in the first quarter.

“We got her the ball early,” Martin said. “She had a big game.”

Senior guard Tanesha Johnson also had a hot hand with 18 points, and she scored 13 of her points in the second half.

Eight different Callaway players scored, including senior Brittany Mitchell, who made a free throw for her first point of the season.

The Lady Cavaliers led 22-15 at the half, and by the end of the third quarter they were ahead 44-27.

Rockmart had a 26-point fourth quarter to make things a bit interesting, although Callaway remained in control the whole way.

Callaway (11-10 overall) heads into the state tournament playing well.

The Lady Cavaliers have won four of their past five games, and they’ve won six of eight overall.

Hart County (23-5) is the number two seed out of Region 8-AAA after losing to Morgan County 70-51 in the region-championship game.

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