By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

BARNESVILLE – The good news for the Callaway Cavaliers is that they’re headed to the state tournament.

The bad news is that they’ll be on the road for their first-round state matchup after losing a 45-43 heart-breaker to Bremen on Thursday in the semifinals of the Region 5-AA tournament at Lamar County High.

The Cavaliers took the lead with less than a minute to play on an off-balance jumper by Demetrius Coleman, but the Blue Devils went back on top with an Austin Stanford bucket with 15 seconds to play.

The Cavaliers had plenty of time to set up a potential game-winning shot, but they turned the ball over, and the Blue Devils ran out the clock.

The Cavaliers will play in the third-place game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., and they’ll be on the road next week for the opening round of the state tournament.

Wednesday’s semifinal showdown was close from the get-go.

It was tied 11-11 after the opening quarter, and Bremen led 24-20 at the half.

The Cavaliers were trailing 31-24 when they went on a 7-0 run to end the third quarter to pull even.

After Javontay Boddie had a steal and a layup to get the Cavaliers within two, Simpson made a pair of free throws to deadlock the score at 31-31.

The Cavaliers appeared to be in control after taking a six-point lead on a Simpson basket with 2:50 to play, but the Blue Devils answered with a 7-0 run to go ahead by one.

With 38 seconds left, Coleman’s jumper put the Cavaliers back on top, but Stanford went strong to the basket to give the Blue Devils the lead.

The Blue Devils came up with a steal moments, and they ran out the remainder of the clock.

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