SAN MARCOS —— Clete Adelman excelled as a game coach, teacher and disciplinarian over the quarter of a century he served as MiraCosta College's men's basketball coach. But it seems looking backward is something he has yet to master.

Adelman, one of the most respected figures in North County basketball, was in no mood for reflection as he walked off the hardwood Saturday night for what looks to be the last time as head coach of the Spartans. Host Palomar defeated MiraCosta 81-71 to spoil Adelman's final game before retirement.

"It's not about reflection," Adelman said. "I've done this for 38 years —— 38 years takes a hell of a lot longer than 15 seconds after the game is over to reflect. I'm disappointed in our effort tonight and how we played. I'll think about that stuff later."

But at least one of his peers was already able to quantify Adelman's legacy.

"He's just a real professional," said Comets' coach John O'Neill, who presented Adelman with a plaque during a pregame ceremony. "He doesn't look out for himself. What he wants to do is have things that are fair. He's not promoting himself, he's promoting the conference, and that kind of rubs off on everybody else."

Adelman's familiar grim poker face was on display for the last time throughout the contest as the Spartans finished their season a disappointing 8-18 (4-10 Pacific Coast Conference).

MiraCosta guard Dan Larson paced all scorers with 27 points, but the Spartans were never able to whittle the Comets' lead down to two possessions in the final 10 minutes.

Palomar ended its season 9-15 overall, but its 8-6 conference mark —— including wins in six of its final eight games —— allowed the Comets to finish their campaign on a high note.

The Comets were led by the outside shooting of Curtis Woods (17 points, four treys) and strong play in the paint by fellow sophomores Chris Nickolei and Charles Lawrence, who tallied 17 and 19 points, respectively.

"Our (early) schedule was tough, and we always knew we were a good team, because we were losing close games to really good teams," Woods said. "We still knew that we were good enough to compete with big schools and once we got into conference, we'd do some damage."

Contact staff writer Michael Klitzing at mklitzing@nctimes.com.