Haverford’s Brian Wiener, left, and Colin Reynolds are charged up after Wiener drew a foul in the second half en route to a victory Friday night over West Chester Henderson. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group).
By Jack McCaffery
He could have settled for a verbal outline. He had the option to pick up the passion in his pre-game speech. He might have mixed in an additional film. He might have tried it all, given the straits his Haverford High basketball team would wander into Friday night.
Fords coach Keith Heinerichs, however, took the message to another level. And that would have been him, out there Thursday, running pre-practice sprints with his players, maybe huffing, perhaps puffing, but shouting out the reality with each determined stride: Lose the next one to visiting West Chester Henderson, and it’s over.
“I was just trying to get the intensity up,” said the Fords’ coach. “I wanted to make sure they wanted it.
“It wasn’t the first time I did that,” he continued, smiling. “But it was the first in a lonnnnnnggg time.”
By the time the Fords outpaced the Warriors, 63-41, in the playback round of the PIAA District 1 Class 6A tournament, it was clear Heinerichs’ ploy didn’t hurt. Though young Henderson hung around early, the Fords gave them 32 minutes of relentless defensive pressure to improve to 18-6 and win a spot in the state tournament.