"They have a lot of guns and are a very talented team," said Hare, whose team finished fourth in the Prep League and received an at-large berth before opening with an 8-6 wild-card home victory against California on Tuesday. "They were physically and fundamentally sound.
"We knew that it would be a tough turnaround having played [Tuesday] and then making the trip down there. We did our homework on them because they played some common opponents. We just ran into a buzz saw."
Palm Desert (22-8) held a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and 13-2 halftime advantage. Palm Desert will meet host Hoover, which posted a 14-13 first-round road win against Walnut at Mount San Antonio College on Wednesday, on Saturday in a quarterfinal match at a time and place to be determined.
Making its first trip to the postseason since 2006, Flintridge Prep (15-12) received four goals from sophomore driver Ethan Vandeventer and one apiece from freshman driver Diego Delgado and sophomore hole/set Alex Blaine.
"We played our best and we are still developing," Vandeventer said. "We never gave up against a real good team.
"It's remarkable to see how far we've come along."
Having got a taste of the playoff experience, Hare said the Rebels are in position to move ahead next season with the majority of the team expected back.
"We had such a great last couple of weeks to this season with some quality wins," Hare said. "Our body of work was pretty good and then winning [Tuesday was great].
"Now, we want to try to challenge for the league title and go farther [in the playoffs] next season."
