CLARK, NJ — This tale is not about a team dubbed “the little engine that could.” What culminated at the end of February 41 years ago did not have a Villanova-slaying-Georgetown feel to it.
Perhaps Arthur L. Johnson High School — then a regional-district high school known as Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School — capturing the boys basketball Union County Tournament championship for the only time in 1981 can best be described as: a team that was good enough got the job done.
That team will be honored on Monday, Feb. 7, at ALJ High School. The current Crusaders, who began this week at 6-7, will host Sinai Christian Academy of Linden at 7 p.m.
“When (that) season began, we were ranked No. 7 in the state,” said Steve Petruzzelli, who was in his third year as the head coach at Johnson Regional for the 1980-1981 season. “We were 18-8 the year before and had four starters back.”
ALJ ranked No. 7 in the state? The Crusaders going on to win the UCT? Where were Elizabeth and Linden, for example, that year?
“The top three seeds were Hillside and Union Catholic and us,” Petruzzelli, 67, said. “Hillside was the top seed, Union Catholic the two and we were the three.”
ALJ ultimately went on to defeat Hillside High School, 73-61, in the 45th annual UCT championship game, which was played on Saturday, Feb. 28, 1981, at the Thomas G. Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth.
John Lennon was murdered less than three months before. In just four weeks President Ronald Reagan, inaugurated for the first time only five weeks prior, would take a bullet in an assassination attempt.
“You could have seeded the three of us (Hillside, UC, Johnson) any way among the top three,” Petruzzelli said. “We were clearly the top three teams in the county that year and pretty even.”
Hillside, under longtime coach Joe Silver, and Union Catholic, guided by Tom Lewis, were members of the Watchung Conference’s smaller National Division that season. Hillside High School, which split with ALJ in the regular season, won the division title. UC beat ALJ in their only meeting, with their second game canceled because it conflicted with the UCT.
“There were so many more good teams in the county at that time,” said Petruzzelli, who succeeded Jerry Allocco as Arthur L. Johnson’s boys basketball head coach for the 1978-1979 season. Just 24 at the time, Petruzzelli, a 1972 graduate of Johnson Regional, was previously Governor Livingston High School’s freshman coach for 1976-1977 and its junior varsity mentor for 1977-1978.
“It was a different climate back then,” Petruzzelli said. “There was no Patrick School or Roselle Catholic. Plainfield was the eighth seed and they were really, really good.
“It was just better.”
ALJ’s singular UCT championship triumph marked a changing of the guard of sorts as far as the county tournament was concerned. From 1982 to 2020 — the past 39 tournaments — only the Patrick School 19 times, Elizabeth 11 times, Linden six times, Roselle Catholic twice and Plainfield once have been crowned champions. That’s it.
Plainfield, guided by Jeff Lubreski, won in 2012 for the first time since 1979. Roselle Catholic, led by Dave Boff, won for the first time just three years ago and then repeated in the 2019-2020 season.
Unfortunately for many loyal Union County hoops fans, the 85th venture of the state’s oldest county tournament is not taking place this month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s worth noting the achievements, however, of 13 ALJ players who made history four decades ago.
Along the way, during a school-best 23-3 campaign, the Crusaders took out the defending UCT champions and, in the championship game, knocked off the top seed.
After taking care of 19th-seeded Oratory Prep in the first round, Arthur L. Johnson faced sixth-seeded Union High School in the quarterfinals. The Farmers, coached by Tom Fox, won the tournament for the second time the year before when, in the final, they bounced defending champ Plainfield High School by a bucket.
“Union had a shot rim in and out, so the basketball Gods may have been with us,” Petruzzelli recalled.
One of the other quarterfinals saw 10th-seeded St. Mary’s of Elizabeth, guided at the time by Ben Candelino, defeat second-seeded Union Catholic.
“Those were some really incredible quarterfinal-round games,” Petruzzelli said. “Back then, everything was played at the Dunn Center, and it was always packed.”
Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School defeated St. Mary’s, and Hillside High School ousted No. 4 seed Linden High School in the semifinals. Candelino would go on to lead Elizabeth High School to nine UCT titles, including four straight twice in a nine-season span, from 1984 to 1992, and a final one in 1995, with junior Al Hawkins scoring the winning basket in the final minute of a 50-49 triumph against two-time defending champion the Patrick School.
Wilber Aikens would lead Linden High School to the next two UCT crowns, in 1982 and 1983, and one more at the helm of the Tigers in 1988. Linden High School, sparked by standout players such as Peter Wilson and Troy Stradford, won at Johnson Regional, 73-67, to end ALJ’s 1980-1981 season in the semifinal round of the North 2, Group 3, playoffs. Linden High School went all the way to the Group 3 final the next year.
Henry Trani, the lone junior among ALJ’s starting five in 1980-1981, had played his first year of basketball at Linden High School before his family moved to Clark. Trani and senior Kevin Boyle were three-year starters for Petruzzelli.
“We were a senior-dominated team for sure,” Petruzzelli said of his 1980-1981 squad.
Johnson Regional’s 13-player roster that year consisted of 10 seniors and three juniors.
Boyle, ALJ’s leading scorer, was joined in the backcourt by fellow senior and point guard Brian Kernan. Up front were senior Jim Taylor, Trani and 6-foot-6-inch senior center Glenn Bodnar, ALJ’s second-leading scorer.
“Taylor was our best shooter,” Petruzzelli said. “Trani was big and gave us a toughness element.”
Petruzelli said Boyle’s average dropped just a bit that year, as Bodnar became a bigger threat offensively. Boyle, who scored more than 1,000 points at Johnson before playing collegiately at Seton Hall and St. Peter’s universities, averaged 18.5 points as a sophomore, 21.5 as a junior and 17.5 as a senior.
“Kevin was second team all-state and Glenn second team all-county,” Petruzzelli said.
Arthur L. Johnson had lost to Elizabeth High School in the quarterfinals the year before and, the year after, fell in the first round with a much less-experienced team that included just one returning starter in Trani.
This is how Petruzzelli explained how special his 1980-1981 Crusaders were: “We were talented, super intelligent on the court, fabulous defensively and tremendous with the ball.
“We averaged only eight turnovers a game, which is really good for a high school team. We averaged 19 when they were sophomores and 11 to 12 when they were juniors.
“We knew that we were really good and had high goals. Older fans still talk about this team. We didn’t realize how special or unique we were until after the season.”
Petruzzelli, a resident of Roselle Park and currently an adjunct faculty member of the School of Education at Kean University, in addition to being an assistant basketball coach at Elizabeth High School, went on to coach basketball at Union Catholic for two years and at Governor Livingston High School for 16 more, both as a head coach.
A graduate of Seton Hall University, Petruzzelli taught health and physical education at Governor Livingston High School for 19 years. His last year as the boys basketball coach at the Berkeley Heights school was 2014-2015.
“Although it was wonderful to have had that team and to have had that experience, I didn’t need it to have my coaching career validated,” Petruzzelli said of what his Crusaders accomplished 40 years ago. “I remember sitting in my office after we won the title and saying to myself, age 26 at the time, that this may be the pinnacle of my career.
“Going on to coach at GL for all of those years was more than I thought I originally would.”
Clark vs. Hillside was 2 towns seeking their first UCT title
When the 1981 UCT final happened, it was a battle of two squads seeking to capture their first county championship. For Johnson Regional, this was a first appearance in the final, while Hillside High School was 0-4 in finals and had reached the title game for the first time since 1950. Hillside High School had lost its first championship game to Rahway High School, 27-17, in 1937.
Earl Walter was Rahway’s coach; the Rahway High School gymnasium is named after him.
Hillside High School has reached the final only one other time after 1981, falling in the 1994 championship game to defending champion the Patrick School, after the Comets upset Elizabeth High School in the semifinals.
Arthur L. Johnson High School is still 1-0 in the finals.
In Watchung Conference–National Division play in 1980-1981, Hillside beat ALJ at home, and then ALJ beat Hillside in Clark.
“We were a middle-sized Group 3 then, with 1,300 to 1,400 kids in school,” Petruzelli said. “We had two pretty good regular-season games against Hillside. The depth of the good teams in the county was so much.”
Petruzzelli also recalled the heavy support his Crusaders received in that year’s UCT.
“Stores in Clark that afternoon had signs on them saying, ‘Gone to the game,’” Petruzzelli said. “Father Whelan attended the game, which began at 3 p.m., and then at Mass later that night announced at the altar that we won the championship.
“Our whole side of the Dunn Center bleachers was filled 100 percent with people from Clark.”
In the final, Boyle led all scorers with his uniform number of 24 points.
“Kevin had a great feel for tempo,” Petruzzelli said. “I sat on the bench, and Kevin knew what I wanted.”
Taylor poured in 22 and Bodnar 16. Trani contributed 8, senior Dan Liebers 2 and senior Alex Firkser 1.
Firkser’s son Anthony, who was a multisport standout at Manalapan, is now a tight end for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. He played collegiately at Harvard. As a basketball player at Manalapan, Anthony scored 1,362 points, second in school history.
“We were a smart transition team,” Petruzzelli said. “On defense, for the most part, we played all man. We played very little zone.”
Hank Hall paced Hillside with 23 points, while JJ Lewis netted 11 and Ed Manuel contributed 10.
Petruzzelli looked back at the statistics and saw that his Crusaders shot 27-of-48 from the field vs. Hillside, which comes out to 56 percent. Not bad, especially considering the added pressure of a trophy at stake.
“We played as good a game as we had all year,” Petruzzelli said. “We picked the right spot to have that kind of an outstanding effort.”
In the Star-Ledger’s final Top 20 poll, Johnson finished ranked 10th in the state. Hillside was ninth. Neptune was No. 1 for 1981.
“After we beat Hillside in the regular season, we got as high as No. 5,” Petruzzelli recalled.
The championship banner is alive and well kept 41 years later
“I have the county championship banner in my basement right with my varsity jacket,” Trani said.
The banner reads: “Boys Basketball” on the top line, “Union County” on the second, “23-3” below, “Champs” below the record and then “1980-81” on the bottom line. A county championship jacket and Trani’s 1982 varsity jacket are clearly visible above, along with his J and R, for Johnson Regional, varsity letters.
“It was just a great season,” Trani, who turned 58 on Wednesday, Jan. 26, said. “We also had a big win at Plainfield (earlier in the season) against a really good team and coach in Rico Parenti.”
Trani, who has resided in Rahway for the last 12 years and is a chief financial officer of a food distribution company, had to make a pretty big decision when his family moved from Linden to Clark.
“I had a chance to stay in Linden, but I didn’t want to put my parents through that,” Trani said. “When I first met Steve (Petruzzelli), he looked as old as I was.
“I knew Kevin and Glenn and Jim. What made us so good at playing basketball together was that we had the same work ethic, the same attitude, wanting to get better.
“We ran the offense to get Kevin open for him to score. Brian was a pure point guard, and Taylor was our best pure shooter and our second go-to option. We also shot very well from the free-throw line.”
Trani’s assignment on defense was to cover the opposing team’s top scorer.
“Steve taught us matchup zone, and we ran it to perfection,” Trani said.
After the Crusaders went 18-8 in 1979-1980, Trani’s sophomore season and first year at Johnson Regional, he felt his junior season should definitely be an upgrade, considering the talent that was returning.
“We lost eight games my sophomore year, and so I figured something like only about five losses for my junior year when it started,” Trani said.
“Steve gets the credit. The way he ran practices really prepared us. He was the best coach I ever played for.
“The key was that everyone had a role. The second team practiced hard in practice to get us better. Dan Liebers came from Governor Livingston, one of our rivals, and was our sixth man.”
In the UCT final against Hillside High School, Trani had to somehow contain Hillside’s 6-foot-6-inch center, Ed Manuel, who had three inches on Trani and finished with 10 points.
“Manuel, JJ Lewis, Hank Hall — they were a handful,” said Trani, who scored 8 points on four field goals, as New Jersey was still seven years away from adopting the 3-point basket. “Hillside played a great game.”
“That shot was pretty much in,” said Trani, regarding the field goal Petruzzelli referenced. I think it was from one of the Horton brothers. It just popped out.
“St. Mary’s in the next round. They were a pesky team, very scrappy.”
Trani echoed Petruzzelli’s sentiments of Johnson playing its best game of the season in the final vs. Hillside.
“In the fourth quarter, we ran away with it,” Trani said. “When it flows, it flows, and everything was in sync for us. Offensively and defensively, we were just on.”
Trani, also a soccer goalie who was 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds that season 40 years ago, said the 1980-1981 season for him was top shelf on multiple levels.
“It was the best basketball year of my life,” said Trani, who also played collegiately at Fairleigh Dickinson University–Madison for another coach he respected, Roger Kindel, who passed away at the age of 69 on March 9, 2020. “Steve was my best coach. He taught us the fundamentals and the competitiveness of the sport. He might have been young at the time, but he knew the game.
“When I got to Johnson, I really didn’t know what would happen, so in that respect, it was very gratifying for me, what we accomplished that season.”
Getting everyone to play together for one goal and mixing the talent in the best possible manner to produce winning results might be a coach’s No. 1 challenge. Trani felt Petruzzelli proved that he was more than up for that task.
“Steve preached role play,” Trani said. “He coached some good players, and we all accepted our roles. That can be tough with some kids, because everyone wants to be the top scorer at some time or another.
“That’s what led to our success. Steve was good, and he was tough. Myself coming over from Linden and Liebers from GL, the timing was good.
“I know people in town, some 80 years old, still talk about what we did and enjoy bringing it up.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Johnson Regional Crusaders Boys Basketball, 1980-1981 Union County Tournament champions, finished the season 23-3 and ranked No. 10 in state.
Starters:
Glenn Bodnar, senior and co-captain, No. 13
Kevin Boyle, senior and co-captain, No. 24
Brian Kernan, senior, No. 14
Jim Taylor, senior, No. 25
Henry Trani, junior, No. 44
Reserves:
Mike DiBiagio, senior
Alex Firkser, senior
Rich Jordan, senior
Bob Kraus, junior
Dan Liebers, senior
Blair Ligas, junior
Ken McMurdo, senior
Seth Oberman, senior
Manager: Keith Barranger
Head coach: Steve Petruzzelli, third season
Assistant coaches: Rich Nead, Bob Kowalski
1981 UCT for Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School, the third seed:
First round: ALJ 58, Oratory Prep 30, at Dunn Center
Quarterfinal: ALJ 51, Union 49 (OT), at Dunn Center
Semifinal: ALJ 53, St. Mary’s Elizabeth 46, at Dunn Center
Final: ALJ 73, Hillside 61, at Dunn Center
Oratory Prep was the 19th seed and St. Mary’s Elizabeth the 10th. Defending champion Union won the title for the first time in 1974.
Top 8 seeds, in order: Hillside. Union Catholic. Johnson Regional. Linden, Elizabeth. Union. Westfield and Plainfield.
Union County Tournament boys basketball championship game
Saturday, Feb. 28, 1981, at Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth
No. 3 Clark 15 18 16 24 – 73
No. 1 Hillside 09 14 18 20 – 61
No. 3 Johnson Regional Crusaders (73)
Boyle: 11-2-24
Bodnar: 5-6-16
Trani: 4-0-8
Taylor: 6-10-22
Kernan: 0-0-0
Liebers: 1-0-2
McMurdo: 0-0-0
Firkser: 0-1-1
Jordan: 0-0-0
DiBiagio: 0-0-0
Oberman: 0-0-0
Totals: 27-19-73.
No. 1 Hillside Comets (61)
Lewis: 3-5-11
Muhammad: 3-1-7
Hall: 9-5-23
Jackson: 0-0-0
Manuel: 4-2-10
Randolph: 0-0-0
Wineglass: 3-0-6
Barron: 1-0-2
Roberts: 1-0-2
Totals: 24-13-61.
File Photos