Boys Basketball: Haverford’s states team a throwback to 1970 squad

HAVERFORD — It’s been more than a while for Haverford High.

The Fords haven’t appeared in the PIAA boys state basketball tournament in their 39-year-old head coach’s lifetime. The last time they qualified for states, the players were coming off the summer of Woodstock.

The streak ends this weekend when the Fords open states against York High at Dallastown Area High, a two-hour drive from campus.

For the first time since 1970 — and if Keith Heinerichs can help it, hopefully not the only time in the next 40-some years — the Fords find themselves in the state tournament. It means a lot to the players, the school and the community.

One of the alums hung a Fords basketball jersey atop a business establishment on nearby and traditionally staid Brookline Boulevard. Heinerichs requested an extra stash of tickets to keep up with the demand.

Even the foot traffic has increased in front of the basketball trophy case in the lobby of the high school. It chronicles the spectacular 1958 group that the late Stephen Juenger guided to Haverford High’s only state hoops title as well as the ’70 team defeated in the final.

“Last year at this time we were doing conditioning and getting ready for next year,’ Heinerichs said. “And here we are still playing basketball. It’s a tribute to the work ethic and the commitment of everybody involved, the players, the coaches and how much time everybody put in from driving to Lancaster on weekends and going to Allentown to play in tournaments, to St. Joe’s team camp. It’s nice to see when hard work pays off.’

Work pretty much defines Fords basketball, now and then.

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