It was late March of this year, and Beechwood High School's eighth-grade boys were playing their last game of the season. An undefeated league mark was on the line. But for a moment, just as Alex's shot sailed through the net, something else was on the players' minds.

What they did next on the court was only a small gesture, one that would have been easy to miss.

Ron Fronk didn't miss it. No way.

Fronk, 53, is assistant manager at the Cheviot IGA. He's also a guy who has coached basketball for 25 years on both sides of the Ohio River, the last five at Beechwood in Fort Mitchell. He's always worked with eighth-graders or younger.

The last couple of years he's thought about retiring from coaching. Which would be a shame, because experience has taught him a few things.

"I have a rule that there's absolutely no trash talking," he says. "There's absolutely no talking to the officials, even if you question a call. That's my job."

Another Fronk rule: Every kid on the team starts at least one game.

"I know coaches who say, 'I'm going to play these five and that's it.' That's a terrible thing for kids."

Grades are important, he says, so he'll sit a kid if he's slacking off.

A good attitude

Perspective is important, too.

"None of my ballplayers will ever play in the NBA. I know that. They know that.

"I'm not looking for (individual) greatness. I'm looking for the team concept. I'm thrilled to death when we get that."

And he gets it more often than not. He can't remember ever having a losing season. Under Fronk, Beechwood's eighth-graders have gone undefeated in their league the past two years.

He loves the small school, which has about 500 students in grades 7 to 12.

"I'm not naïve enough to believe there are not bad kids," he says. "But I've not met any.

"They have one bad habit. They're all UK fans. I'm a UC fan."

Another thing about Fronk: He says he's mellowed. Used to be, "I was a little more intense than I probably should have been."

Which, perhaps, makes what happened on Leap Day last February all the more surprising.

Life changes

He was looking forward that night to coaching his Tigers in the championship game of a tournament at Price Hill. After going out for dinner, he and a friend returned to his Cheviot apartment.

"I remember standing up, going to the door, and that was pretty much it," Fronk says.

He woke up in the hospital, a victim of a heart attack.

Fronk, who had no prior heart trouble, was fortunate. He suffered no permanent heart damage. But he would not be able to coach in the tournament game or the remaining league games.

Calls went out to his players. They played in the tournament championship game that night, but were soundly defeated.

In the following days and weeks, Fronk says, he's learned just how fortunate he is. Family and friends have helped in his recovery. Several current and former players visited him in the hospital. The heart attack "made me open my eyes. I can be a better person. I can be more understanding, and not look for faults in people. I think we all have a habit of doing that."

Alex Hall says his coach has always struck a balance. He expects the team to play its hardest, but seldom singles out an individual for criticism.

Alex is the boy who opened the scoring in the season's last game, which the Tigers won.

Fronk, still recovering, watched from the bleachers.

After Alex nailed that three-pointer, he and other Tiger players on the court turned to the stands and pointed to coach Fronk. It was a small, unplanned gesture "to let him know we cared for him," Alex says.

Fronk got the message. He wiped a way a tear or two.

And now he looks forward to next fall, when he'll welcome a new group of eighth-graders.

E-mail jjohnston@enquirer.com.