BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Division I-A Is Key Attraction in Opening Round

The opening round of the Southern Section boys’ basketball playoffs, featuring a record 288 teams in 10 divisions, begins at 7:30 tonight with plenty of mismatches that are certain to produce some lopsided scores.

The exception is Division I-A, where 11 league champions and nine second-place teams are included in a 32-team field. Nineteen teams with 17 or more victories are entered; Loyola (10-13) is the only school with a losing record.

The key attraction figures to be Cerritos (17-8), the second-place team in the tough San Gabriel Valley League, at Huntington Beach (17-7), which tied for first in the Sunset League with Marina and Edison.

Guard Mustapha Abdi was instrumental in Huntington Beach’s drive to the league title, scoring 36 points in a 55-44 victory over Marina and 46 points in an 82-72 overtime victory over Ocean View in the final week of the season.

“Mustapha is playing his best basketball of the season,” Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller said. “Early in the season, he had problems getting the ball to go in the hole. We was trying to do too much, and he was shooting in the low 30s (percent).

“I think he’s gotten comfortable playing on the perimeter and his confidence has grown with each game. He’s shooting almost 50% in his last 10 games.”

Abdi was the most valuable player in the Orange League as a sophomore at Savanna, where he played in the post position and earned all-county honors. But Abdi’s game slipped when he moved to Huntington Beach and played in the stronger Sunset League.

“It’s taken some time for him to develop into a shooting guard as opposed to a post player with his back to the basket,” Miller said. “But I’m still not opposed to playing him inside against smaller centers. Most guys his size can’t guard him in low.”

Cerritos’ top player, 6-foot-8 forward Mark Flick, is a perimeter player whose ballhandling skills belie his size. Flick has signed with UC Santa Barbara, where he likely will be a shooting guard.