Hi! To expound on my post above (we were the team that picked the #37 seed)....
Scouting is indeed very important. It is unfortunate that you didn't have the personpower to do it yourself, and also disappointing that FSN didn't get used. We think FSN is a good idea, but it seems like it needs enough teams to be willing to put the effort into getting it to reach "critical mass", and that didn't happen. Finding the energy to tackle FSN on top of all the other things we had to do, is asking a lot. However, if we can get over this hurdle, it will be a net time and effort saver.
I hope there is something you can do to help your team get over shyness! I've noticed in the short time that I've been involved with FIRST that most of the other people are just like me...
wierd (in a good way) and interesting and interested in meeting and talking to others like themselves. We all have at least one common interest (robots), and using this common interest seems to be a very easy way to break the ice.
In our scouting, we were looking for other teams that could perform consistently (even if the alliances they wound up in lost several or most of their matches), and that could shoot high, since we shoot low. It's also vital in this game that they be able to play defense, and be able to take the heat that others dish out. Having the ability to score at least a few points in autonomous is also a very big plus, as we seemed to get our good seed in large part by consistently scoring 5 to 10 points in auto each match....that was usually enough to get the 10 point bonus, and that bonus really contributes to the score. Being able to get up the ramp, and help others up, is also a critical ability.
The fact that you made #12 seed with such a small team, and with no practice, really says a lot about your team...you did great!