Setting goals and achieving them are two different animals, and the Exeter boys basketball team hopes with experience gained this season that difference will shrink.

The Tigers (4-21) fought through 17 losses before putting up a 58-48 win over equal-record Hurley on Feb. 6. Despite the start, Exeter rallied to win three of its last four and fell to Niangua in the district tournament.

Tremayne Williams, Tigers coach, said though he saw plenty of improvement, a grade on the whole season is still a difficult one to dole out.

“Grading this season, I would say we got a D on meeting expectations, with most of the passable work at the end of the season,” he said. “We didn’t have a good amount of consistency with our performance. I still think this group has a higher level we can reach, and I am excited to see what we can become.”

Reality aside, Williams said playing so many young players give Exeter a jump in coming seasons.

“I would say that this team improved a lot,” he said. “We had a lot of guys see their first varsity minutes this year, and we really learned last season from having a competitive schedule.”

Williams said as the year progressed, chemistry improved, but there was still room for more.

“Our biggest room to improve is just having team chemistry and playing connected on both sides of the floor,” he said. “I feel like returning a lot of the same guys will help us in the long run.”

Exeter had just one senior on the varsity squad in Levi Gautney.

“He led by example with the way he approached his role and always strived to play team basketball,” Williams said. “He always made plays for the team on both sides of the floor, and will be great at whatever he chooses to do moving forward.”

Looking to next year, the Tigers will return their main contributor, junior Nathan Tackett, who brought excitement to the floor.

“[The] senior night [game] stood out this year,” Williams said. “Nathan stole the show. We are hoping for a similar performance for his senior year.”

Along with Tackett will be a group of not-as-green underclassmen, some of whom earned postseason honors.

“We bring back juniors who ended the season on the All-Conference teams, sophomores who played meaningful roles throughout the season and freshman who saw varsity time,” Williams said. “We should see a lot of improvement next year. But, we have to put in the work in the off-season and start playing better as a team.”

With that goal, expectations are already being set.

“I want our expectations to be competitive in every game, to be more consistent with playing good basketball for four quarters, and make a run at districts at the end of the season,” Williams said. “Our season didn’t go as expected, but we have what it takes to change that moving forward.”