Royal Makes Speedy Exit From Playoffs

Royal High was looking to add yet another chapter to its storybook basketball season Tuesday night, but Mustapha Abdi snatched the pen from the Highlanders and Huntington Beach slammed the book shut.

Abdi, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, tied his season-high with 34 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as Huntington Beach rolled to an 80-74 victory in a Southern Section 5-A Division playoff game at Royal High.

Huntington Beach (11-14), the fifth-place team from the Sunset League, led by as many as 20 points against Royal (20-7), the Marmonte League co-champion. Royal was enjoying its best season in history and the Highlanders were seeking their first playoff win in three tries.

Huntington Beach had other ideas. The Oilers never trailed after taking a 7-6 lead in the first quarter and enjoyed a 20-point advantage late in the third.

“Obviously, I’m very disappointed,” Royal Coach Joe Malkinson said. “We hoped to continue playing a little longer. Our goal was to reach the quarterfinals, but we fell short.”

Royal was caught off guard by Huntington Beach’s up-tempo offense. Malkinson watched videotape of Huntington Beach that showed the Oilers in a 2-3 zone and deliberate tempo. But Huntington Beach consistently fed streaking players with full-court passes that resulted in easy lay-ins.

“That’s our fault for not making the defensive adjustment,” Malkinson said.

Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller wondered if Royal made any adjustment.

“We’ve had some success with that this season, but nothing like that,” Miller said. “I couldn’t tell if they were missing assignments, or what. I’m not sure why it was happening with such frequency.”

Nevertheless, Royal cut a 20-point deficit to 62-58 with 16 consecutive points between the end of the third quarter and the fourth. Russell Myers, Royal’s all-time leading scorer, scored 12 points to key the run.

Huntington Beach responded with seven unanswered points, including six from Abdi, and extended its lead to 69-60 with 4 minutes 5 seconds left. Royal could get no closer than the final margin, which came on a half-court shot from Myers--who scored 34 points.

“We had a good run at them, but we were just dead after that,” Myers said.

Royal committed 14 first-half turnovers, nine in the second quarter.