Borrego Sun - Since 1949

It was just a three-point difference in the first, but the Royal Knights found a rhythm to shake off the aggressiveness pushed by the Rams to spoil their home opener, 45 – 29, Nov. 22.

This was the Rams first game of the season, and the Royal Knights' third.

"We played a little better than I thought we would," head coach Mauricio Polanco said. "We have a lot of new faces on the team with a few who hasn't played much in the past, but I was pleased with what I saw. We have a lot of hustle and a good base to work off of."

Calvary Christian Academy were on the board first after back-to-back steals for layups, 4 – 0.

The Rams answered right back after junior center Juan "Coco" Medina drove through the paint to draw a foul sinking in one free throw.

Sophomore power forward Daniel Arias hit a jumper from the left side to get Borrego within one, 4 – 3.

However, the Royal Knights scored consecutive shots to extend their lead to 9 – 3.

To end the first, Arias hit a shot behind the arc, 9 – 6, keeping the game in range.

In the second quarter, it seemed that the Royal Knights found the Rams weak spots in the paint to rack up their end of the scoreboard and their defense held the Rams to just two shots by Arias and junior forward Cam'mron Jambor, respectively.

The Rams were down, 26 – 10, heading into halftime.

To start the third, Medina sank in a jumper for the Rams, 26 – 12. But he was answered back by CCA, who continued to add to the board.

After a pass by senior point-guard and power forward Ty White, Medina found the basket.

Arias then sank in a three at the top of the key, 30 – 17. The Royal Knights answered right back with a shot of their own, and they still led, 32 – 17.

Despite attempted shots by the Rams and just two more shots by Arias and Jambor, the Rams trailed 36 – 21, with just one more quarter left to go.

The fourth was slow on each side of the court, as shots seemed to not be able to connect with the basket.

The Rams couldn't score enough to overcome the deficit, as the Royal Knights handed them their first loss.

As the new season begins, Polanco hopes to work more on the basics and feeding the post a lot more, from three-pointers to jumpers in the paint.

"We are going back to basics, but we also have to work on boxing out and getting our agility moving better," Polanco said.

He hopes to get the team to over .500 this year.

"Judging by what I saw today, it's a very feasible goal to do," Polanco said. "We'll have our big guy (Andres Reyes) back for our next game, and expecting him, along with our other senior Ty (White) to have a great season, as well as guide our team throughout the year.

The team returns to the court with back-to-back non-conference home games against St. Joseph Academy and Rock Academy, both at 4:30 p.m.