Joe Rogers knew the roster, the talent, and the personalities.

He had been a five-year assistant for Sam Doner and the Newton South girls’ basketball program, as well as the junior varsity coach.

But how would all of the pieces fit together in his first season as varsity coach.

“I absolutely appreciated how good and special a player Veronica Burton was and how good and special a player Emily Chang was, and the quality of the supporting cast, so I did know that we had a chance to be good,’’ said Rogers.

“But I didn’t spend any time thinking about a record one way or the other.’’

It wasn’t until a five-game road stretch in the middle of this season — during which the Lions won all five by double digits — that Rogers knew for sure this team had the potential to accomplish something special.

“Our only goal as a team is to get better every day and we’ve really been focused on doing the things that we have to every day to get better,’’ said Rogers.

“If we’re winning each day then we’re going to have a chance to win as the season goes on.’’

Newton South has done plenty of winning this season: the Lions won their first 18 games before suffering a loss to North Andover earlier this month. But South (19-1) bounced back with a 51-36 win over Dual County League rival Acton-Boxboro Regional on Tuesday night.

And now, a year after falling to undefeated Braintree in the Division 1 South semi­finals, the Lions appear poised to take another step behind the dynamic guard duo of Burton (20.1 points per game) and Chang (17.9).

“It’s not something that we’ve discussed,’’ said Burton, a sophomore and the sister of former South standouts Kendall and Kayla , who are playing collegiately at Villanova and Lehigh, respectively.

“But overall it’s a huge goal for everyone to go further than we have in the past in the playoffs. I think we’ve used it to remind us to get better every day and go further than we did last year.’’

And while the Lions choose not to focus heavily on how last season ended, there are valuable lessons to be learned from that experience. With a large returning core, much of the team knows what to expect when the intensity rises.

“Two years ago we didn’t even make the playoffs, so a lot of players last year didn’t know what to expect as far as energy and atmosphere in different gyms,’’ said Chang.

Having that experience from last season, Chang said, “definitely helps this year, just staying calm and playing our game and not letting other teams shut us down . . . It’s definitely hectic at times but I think it’s really good that players on our team are getting experience on how to stay grounded and focused on the goal.’’

At A-B, there is a similar sentiment.

The Colonials graduated just one player from last year’s team, which fell to Wachusett in the Division 1 Central semis. After starting this season 5-5, A-B won nine straight games to rocket into contention. And despite Tuesday’s loss to South, coach Tim Bassett believes his team is hitting its stride at just the right time.

“Division 1 Central is tough – there’s a lot of good teams – so there’s not going to be any easy games once we get there. But I really do think we can compete with anybody,’’ said Bassett, whose team is led by a quartet of senior captains in Kristin Ropiak , Emma Crooks , Tyler Keohan , and Caroline Maxwell .

“A good portion of the team remembers the feeling from last year of coming within 1 point of moving on to the Central finals. I definitely think there’s a motivation within the kids to not only get back to that point but to go further and get to that next step and see how far they can go.’’

The Wellesley girls (18-2), on the other hand, did not have an extended postseason run last year; the Raiders were ousted with a first-round loss to Brockton. But they have emerged as one of the sectional favorites thanks to a battle-tested group of starters.

Junior Dorian Cohen , the team’s leader in scoring (11.5 points), rebounding (10.5 rebounds), assists, and steals, leads the way, along with seniors Caroline Sullivan , Katie Williamson , and Emma Ivy .

“When we looked at our schedule at the beginning of the year, I was hoping we were going to get at least 10 wins because we had a tough schedule,’’ said Glen Magpiong .

“I knew we had something special because of the way the kids were working hard together, especially on the defensive end. I talked to someone about we-fense, we on offense, we on defense. And that’s what they do, that’s the culture we try to create.’’

Chang has felt a team-first mentality has also been one of the leading reasons for Newton South’s success. And she hopes that translates to a special finish to her senior season.

“The way our team has been getting along on and off the court, we’re definitely like a family,’’ said Chang. “And before the season all I wanted was a good experience, whether that meant winning or most importantly just having a good experience, having fun while enjoying my last season.’’

Eric Russo can be reached at eric.russo@globe.com.