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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It got a little suspenseful late, but the Callaway Lady Cavaliers outlasted Spencer 61-59 on Tuesday night.

With the win, Callaway (7-7 overall) improved to 5-4 in Region 5-AA and remained in fourth place, just ahead of Spencer.

If the standings stay the way they are, Callaway and Spencer would play again in the first round of the region tournament.

Callaway seemed to have things well in hand after taking a 12-point lead at the close of the third quarter, but Spencer fought back and took the lead on two occasions late in the game.

With post player Camryn Stargell coming through with some clutch baskets and free throws in the fourth quarter, though, Callaway was able to prevail.

“I’m proud of them,” said Callaway head coach Deyano Martin. “I’m not happy with the way we let them back in the game, but we still finished. That was big.”

Stargell scored eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, and she was 4-of-5 on free-throw attempts down the stretch.

Gabrielle Johnson led Callaway with 20 points, and she did all of her scoring in the first half.

Niakoe Burks added 11 points, Chaple Butler made two 3-pointers and scored eight points, and Javonna Bradford scored eight points.

With Johnson and Burks combining for 12 points, Callaway surged to a 15-9 lead after the first quarter.

Johnson scored 11 points in the second quarter, and Callaway had a 34-25 lead at the break.

Callaway had a 48-36 lead through three quarters before Spencer made its move.

In Tuesday’s boys’ game, it was all Spencer, which surged to a big early lead and rolled to an 88-46 victory.

When the two teams played in Columbus the game went down to the wire, with Spencer surviving for a 68-67 victory.

The rematch was all Spencer, though, which remained perfect in Region 5-AA play with an 8-0 record.

Callaway (9-5 overall) saw its five-game winning streak come to a close while falling to 6-3 in the region.

Callaway and Temple, who split their two regular-season games, are tied for third place.

Callaway’s teams return to region play on Saturday against visiting Bremen.