The resurgent Royal boys’ basketball team had to play from behind and make the most of a second-quarter scoring burst to edge the host Moorpark Musketeers,

55-53, on Wednesday evening in the Highlanders’ fifth Marmonte League game of the season.

The Musketeers got off to a

13-0 lead with 3:01 on the first quarter clock, 17-3 with 1:07 and led

17-6 at the end of the quarter. Royal didn’t score until sophomore center Gene Mewborn’s basket with 2:26 remaining. The Highlanders got their game together during the second quarter, outscoring Moorpark, 25-6, and led 31-23 at halftime.

Royal’s Mewborn scored 17 points, senior guard Cory Hodges put 11 points in the basket and senior guard Trevin Johnson had 10 points. Moorpark had two players in double figures, senior guard Jonathon Aiwazian scored 16 points and junior guard Sam Adams scored 14 points.

Royal head coach Craig Griffin, surprised about how the game began, said he didn’t have an answer for the Highlanders’ slow start.

"We didn’t come out ready to play at the start of the game," he said, "that’s for sure. (Give) credit to Moorpark. They’re the best oh- and-five team around pretty much anywhere. They played well in the first quarter, and credit to our guys who really stepped up in the second quarter and battled back.

"I asked them just to be within about six (points), I didn’t plan on being up eight (at halftime). Our guys have the capability of doing those type of things––of being a really good team," he added.

Moorpark outscored Royal

12-11 in the third quarter to pull within seven points at 42-35 as the game moved into the fourth quarter. In the final quarter, the Musketeers again outscored the Highlanders, 18-13, but couldn’t catch up. They came within three points four times and two in the end.

Royal is 9-8 overall, 3-2 in league, after a 6-19 overall, 1-10 league finish last season.

Reflecting on Wednesday’s game, Griffin said the reserve players were as valuable as the starters.

"I thought some of the guys who came off the bench really played well in the second quarter," he said. "The third and fourth quarters were just kind of ugly. Neither team really established that they wanted to win. It just so happened that we had more points at the end than Moorpark did."

Tonight, Royal is hosting the faltering Thousand Oaks Lancers, a team coming off a 73-54 spanking by Calabasas. The Highlanders then play on the road next week— Wednesday against the Simi Valley Pioneers and Friday versus the Newbury Park Panthers.

Both games are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tipoffs.

Griffin said the Moorpark game was another example of how the Highlanders have been winning with a team effort––not the play of one or two players.

"Obviously our three guards were our leaders out there," he said. "(Seniors) Trevin (Johnson), Cory (Hodges) and (Robert) Fischer, and ‘Fisch’ was probably the heart and soul of the team. He’s probably the guy who really gets us going and makes things happen for us. But it takes all five."

Mewborn, who came off the bench, Griffin said, was a big contributor to the victory.

"When Gene gets a little angry and plays, you have to watch out for him," he said. "He’s just big and strong. It’s good for me to see that. I know I enjoy seeing him starting to be a little more aggressive. It took him a little while."

The Royal coach, referring to Mewborn joining the basketball team after playing as a defensive lineman on the football team, said, "He got used to all the pushing and shoving," Griffin said.

"It took him a little while to get used to the speed and strength that was necessary (in this game). It’s a little bit different than when he played last year."