After first-year Newberry Middle School boys’ basketball coach Greg Stewart saw what kind of team he would have this season, the goal became pretty obvious.

The mission was perfection — and it was accomplished.

The Tigers went 14-0 this season, which made the season an obvious success.

“They knew that (going undefeated) was the goal that we set,” Stewart said. “We felt like we had enough good players to go undefeated. The kids bought into that goal. I think a loss would not have made this a successful season.”

Newberry won most of their games by comfortable margins, but did have one serious scare. The Tigers rallied to knock off Jett Middle by a point, after trailing by seven in the final two minutes.

“We buckled down defensively,” Stewart said. “We really didn’t have to do a lot of motivating down the stretch of that game. The kids just went out there and did it. That was big for their confidence.”

The Tigers’ journey to a perfect season began this summer. They spent time working out with some of the high school players, learning the philosophy that their first-year coach was bringing with him from the high school. Stewart formally served on Chad Cary’s staff on the Newberry High boys’ basketball team.

The Tigers used a tenacious full-court pressure defense that forced turnovers and led to easy transition buckets.

“In every season, you have some bumps with some kids not really understanding what we’re doing, but they figured it out and we grew really close together, and are still close,” Stewart said. “We stressed the fundamentals and them in practice. Our practice work habits were critical to our success.”

Members of the team include: Kaheem Praylow, Kendrick Lake, Jaylen Reeder, Jaylen Lindsay, T.J. Boulware, Dominique Quiller, Trey Miller, Tovaris Cureton, Jimmy Willingham, Robert Gary, D.J. Bookman, Teverres Taylor, Darren Dozier, Theory Maybin and Trell Williams.