IRVINE - It's going to happen in the playoffs. You'll have to face a team you're unfamiliar with, or the scouting report will be spotty, and or you'll have to win without your best stuff.
That was the backdrop Friday of Glendora's road trip to Beckman, where two teams were looking to measure themselves under those conditions.
For the host Patriots, they would be advancing to the next round. It may not have been as pretty as coach Jason Edgmond wanted, but it was pretty enough. Beckman scored a 47-31 victory over Glendora, which salvaged the night with a fourth-quarter performance that got the Tartans at least in the same area code.
"It's my fault," said Glendora coach Adam Nunemaker, who watched his squad commit 28 turnovers - almost one per minute - as it dropped to 9-3. "I didn't do a good enough job preparing for their pressure.
"That first half was probably the worst half we've played in a couple of years. We played a little better in the fourth quarter, so I guess that was a step forward. But we probably shot less than 20 percent from the field."
On the other side, Edgmond was frustrated the Patriots didn't put together a full 32 minutes. Living in the shadow of disappointment is standard stuff for coaches always seeking perfection. By the time Beckman's game started to deteriorate - they made only two 3-pointers and a deuce over the final 12 minutes 30 seconds of the game - the Patriots had built a 27-point lead on their way to improving to 8-4.
Junior Natasha Jafari led Beckman with 18 points. She scored 16 in the first half as Beckman built a 26-9 halftime lead. A 13-3 run in the first 3:30 of the third quarter eliminated any chance of a Glendora comeback.
"Our third quarter is a little bit weak, so that's the one big thing we wanted to fix as a team," Jafari said. "I was happy with the team's performance in the third quarter."
Two freshmen backed up Jafari, as Taylor Tam scored 11 and AK Prakashchander scored six of her eight points in the third. Both of them were on the team's cross country squad that reached the Southern Section finals, so they missed about a month of the season.
"They are just now getting into it, so that was good to see," Edgmond said.
It will make the Patriots that much better as they get into basketball shape.
"We played a good first half," Edgmond said. "Defensively, we overwhelmed them. The first half we did a really good job on (Brianna Gomez and Ronnie Herrmann)."
Good doesn't even begin to describe it. Gomez and Herrmann averaged 16.5 and 16.2 points, respectively. Gomez finished with three points - all in the first quarter - and Herrmann finished with 11 after scoring only four in the first half. Kamryn Kuo scored eight.
"We were not expecting them to be as aggressive as they were on defense," said Herrmann, who had 10 rebounds and was forced into shooting at awkward angles against the swarming Patriots. "It was difficult to get a nice, clean shot. They were always there. It was pretty tough."
It was the second night in a row that Glendora was playing a road game. The Tartans played at Ayala of Chino Hills on Thursday, and though Nunemaker said they didn't play well, they won 44-33.
Seven turnovers in the first quarter and a cold spell from the field - Glendora needed 6:18 to make its first field goal of the night - was salvaged by a score underneath by Gomez in the final seconds as Beckman took a 10-5 lead in the first quarter. But Glendora's shots kept clanking or they couldn't keep possession of the ball. When the Tartans made their next field goal, they were down 22-5 with 2:30 left in the half.
The blitz at the top of the third quarter gave Beckman a 39-12 advantage before giving back some of the margin.
"We did not play well. Too many turnovers, couldn't run our offense. Other than (Jafari), I don't know that anyone had a good night," Edgmond said. "Our goal was to not play sloppy, to play disciplined, to play for four quarters - maybe that's what I'm disappointed in. We gave up nine points in the first half, everybody was defending. ..."
Of course, coaches get paid to fret over such things. The Patriots will be competing in the San Diego Holiday Classic on Dec. 26, and will face perennial San Diego power La Jolla Country Day in the first round.
"We have a tough tournament coming up," Edgmond said. "We're a solid team when we get it all together."
And against the competition in San Diego, they'll need a full 32 minutes.