Norristown’s D.J. Johnson, center, eyes the rim against Upper Merion in a PAC Final Six game Wednesday at Spring-Ford. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
You hear it often from coaches and, more frequently, from players that those coaches instruct: “It starts with defense,” the script goes.
DJ Johnson didn’t have to say it Tuesday night. He and his Norristown teammates showed it so vividly for 32 minutes at Haverford that it spoke for itself.
No. 12 Norristown made the adjustments it needed to on defense, checking the early momentum of Haverford and rallying into the PIAA Class 6A tournament with a 46-39 win.
The win sends the Eagles (18-6) into states and into the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals Friday against No. 4 Bensalem, which beat West Chester Henderson, 57-42. No. 5 Haverford (17-6) hosts Henderson for a chance to grab one of the remaining 12 states berths most generously appointed to District 1.
For a quarter and a half, Haverford got whatever it wanted offensively, leading 18-5 with 3:22 left until halftime. That’s when Norristown switched to a 3-2 zone to slow the game down. Haverford voluntarily slowed itself down further and the Eagles found a way to get easy baskets and get back in the game.