Upper Moreland’s historic boys’ basketball season has brought ‘tears of joy’ for this family

Upper Moreland boys’ basketball is just one win away from competing for its first ever PIAA championship.

The Golden Bears (24-6) will have to get past Neumann Goretti (17-11) in the Class 5A semifinals on Friday at Pottstown High (7 p.m.). Before this playoff run, Upper Moreland hadn’t previously won a state playoff game. Now, they are looking to capture a fourth consecutive win.

“We know [who] Neumann Goretti is, right? They’re very talented,” said fifth-year coach Dan Heiland. “They have a pedigree about them — PCL championships, PIAA state championships. They’re a good team, we know that. … At the end of the day, we have to show up and we have to execute. And, you know, the biggest thing we just keep saying is, ‘You know, it’s March, right? Crazy things happen in March basketball.’”

Heiland, an Upper Moreland graduate, has developed a winning culture with a program that found little success in the early years of his tenure. The team had not recorded 20 wins or a division title in 42 years before achieving both this season.

Along with coaching Upper Moreland basketball, Heiland is an assistant coach for the school’s football team, where he has seen success. For Heiland, winning on the gridiron has translated to the basketball court.

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“Coaching football, the last decade with coach [Adam] Beach has been a huge eye-opener for me,” Heiland said. “Being able to not only win football games, but play at a high level, going deep into district playoffs, and a couple of times being able to play in a state playoff game.”

In the quarterfinals, the Golden Bears eked out a 46-45 victory against another Catholic League foe Bonner-Prendergast. Upper Moreland’s Colson Campbell scored a team-high 21 points in the contest. The senior, who surpassed 1,000 points in February, has been Heiland’s No. 1 option on offense.

And Colson has been able to celebrate the team’s recent success alongside two familiar faces. His father, Jason, is an assistant coach for the team, while his younger brother, Cannon, is playing alongside him after making the varsity squad as a freshman.

“[Cannon] proved himself to be good enough,” said Jason Campbell. “He put a lot of time into his game. I get to now watch him compete, not just in the driveway against his brother, Colson. Now they’re competing every day at the varsity level in practice.”

Colson Campbell added: “Some of the games outside get pretty intense and physical, so we pretty much [know] each other’s moves every time [in practice].”

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Colson Campbell noted that his younger brother has “figured out his own system” throughout his first year, but Colson will still give advice when he can. He has stressed the importance of getting enough rest, telling him “you’re going to get sick” if he fails to do so.

The two have not been able to play on the same team since Little League Baseball — when their father was also their coach — because of their four-year age difference. For Jason Campbell, this season has been extra “special to watch as a coach and as a parent” and it isn’t something he’s taken for granted.

Cannon Campbell has played substantial minutes off the bench. In the final moments of the tightly-contested matchup against Bonner-Prendie, both brothers were checked into the game.

“It’s coming down to the very end of the game and it’s like, ‘Is this going to be the last time I’m going to get to coach my kids?’” Jason Campbell said. “You start slowly feeling that emotion without thinking much about it. It starts coming on, and for them to be on the court at the last minute of the game, [we] wind up coming back and winning that game — tears of joy for me.”

On Friday, the Campbells are looking to push back their “last time” on the court together and tack on another win to an already landmark season.