For the past three years, including this fall, the school's football team advanced deep in the Class 3 state playoffs, leaving Scanlon with a limited practice roster. When football ends, the kids who also play basketball need time to adjust.
"We're never really good until the end of January. That's been the knock on California the last two, three years," Scanlon said. "After Christmas is our main year. We just try to survive the first six or seven games. We're going to be right there with anybody at the end of the season; it just takes time to develop and get there."
Even though the football players joined their basketball teammates almost immediately after losing in the state semifinals, they still missed valuable practice time from Nov. 3-23.