2026 George Cella Tip-off Photos

The Story of BHS Basketball’s Incredible ’65 Season 

By Mike Moretti          November 2, 2026

Back in 1965, I was a kid after school with a bike, determined to witness my first Bloomfield Bengals basketball game, and I picked a great one. Somehow finding my way  into the packed gym, I stood under the very basket where Pete Christensen came off the bench to sink the two winning free throws in the final seconds as Bloomfield beat East Orange, 61-60, ultimately helping to clinch a share of the Big Ten Conference.

That Big Ten title was certainly a surprise for followers of the Bengals. They were barely .500 the year before and didn’t seem to be returning much in terms of manpower. But a lot more would occur that season, one of the most magical in BHS history, as the team finished 22-5 and went all the way to the Group 4 championship game in Atlantic City.

As juniors, they were the last team to play in The Pit, and as seniors, the first to open the new John F. Kennedy Memorial Gymnasium. A 10-0 start to the season hinted at great things.

“I think for the 1964-65 season, we just grew up. We matured. We had that success right from the get-go, and that built confidence,” said starting point guard Bill Muse, an All-State soccer player as well.

“We had a good cohesiveness; we didn’t have any egos, and we had good balance.”

What also changed things enormously was the presence of two new key pieces to fill out the frontcourt and join 6-foot-5 holdover center Glen Gerber. The new names were 6-4 senior Bob Grant and 6-2 sophomore Teddy Jasieniecki, destined to become one of Bloomfield’s greatest players ever.

“Obviously, Glen filled out, and we knew about Teddy, and he made a big difference right away. But Bob Grant did also. He was not on jayvee. I remember playing with him at Brookside Park. He came out for the team and  came into his own as a senior . He really came out of nowhere.”

So the starting lineup was set with Gerber, Jasieniecki and Grant up front, good size back in those days, and the backcourt of Muse and leading scorer Doug Welle, a pure-6-1 shooting guard.

The coach was also in place, the magnificent”  George Cella, who less than a decade earlier had guided Bloomfield to a state record 64-game winning streak that included two Group 4 championships and two ECT crowns.

“Coach Cella mastered the technique of mentoring each player as an individual, thereby maximizing their talent,” said Gerber.  “One of my unforgettable memories of Coach Cella was us making a bad play down in The Pit, and him slamming that key ring onto the court. Well, it exploded, and we had to spend 10 minutes picking up all those keys.”

“I remember Coach Cella’s sense of calm.  When he was heated under the collar, you knew he meant it. It was a velvet hand… He was the reason why I decided to go to Springfield, his alma mater,” said Muse, who would later become head soccer coach at heralded Hartwick and Princeton.

The Bengals finished the regular season at 16-3 with an easy win over Nutley that secured the Big Ten crown with East Orange. Next it was on to the Essex County Tournament. Victories over St. Benedict’s and West Side set up a semifinal match vs. South Side, led by Ron Kornegay, the No. 1 team in the state. Things did not go well, as the Bengals lost by a hefty margin.

“South Side was all business,  a really mature team,” Muse said.

Next up was a first-round state tournament, an easy victory over Weequahic, followed by a one-point heart-pounder over Newark Central. In the Group 4, Section 2 championship game, Bloomfield had little problem defeating Whitey Dukiet-led Livingston, 66-51, at Upsala College. The Group 4 semifinal at the Jersey City Armory against Ridgewood, with the right to go to Atlantic City for the Group 4 championship game, was another story.

“We were down about 10 points late. But Coach Cella had installed this zone press and that turned the tide. That was one happy bus ride home,” Gerber recalled about the 61-60 victory.

The Group 4 championship game featured Bloomfield vs Bridgewater-Raritan, who had one of the state’s best players in 6-9 Mike Grosso, who averaged 30 points per game. It was a tall task indeed.”

“I remember walking out on that court in Atlantic City. Convention Hall was a big arena. The lights looked like stars in the sky. It was surprising to us that we got that far, Muse said.”

I guess we felt gifted we got that far.”

The Bengals’ fabulous run captured the imagination of the whole town. Many buses were fully loaded for the ride to Atlantic City to witness  the Saturday night game.

Bloomfield led 18-13 after the first quarter, and still led by 2 after three quarters. An upset was in the making. Bridgewater got hot and  forged ahead, but it was still a three-point game  with 2:19 remaining.

Muse fed Jasieniecki on a 2-on-1 fast break, but Grosso came out of nowhere to block the shot. ” It was the biggest play of the game,” Muse said, and Bridgewater went on to win 63-55, with Grosso turning in 28 points, many from the foul line.

Doug Welle had 17 for Bloomfield, 15 in the first half. Gerber added 12. It was the last time the state finals were played in Atlantic City, Gerber noted.

“We rode the bus home the next day, and as we were exiting the parkway, two motorcycle cops pulled up and then escorted us to the high school, where 400 people were waiting for us. We had a big dinner at the Ponderosa  after,” Gerber said.

All five starters played college basketball. Muse at Springfield, Welle and later Jasieniecki at Rutgers, and Grant and Gerber at Albright, which reached the NCAA Division II Final Eight their freshman year. Albright’s coach, Will Rankin, was a classmate of Cella’s at Springfield.

“We felt we had accomplished a lot, just getting to Atlantic City,” said Gerber, who would act as a pallbearer at Coach Cella’s funeral, representing all of his former players.  “What an honor,” he said.

Appreciative comment from Glen Gerber: Mike, outstanding job on your presentation!…you certainly brought back some great memories…hope you had a good crowd and raised lot’s of cash for the basketball programs…Billy, just forwarded this to Brother Welle, you are both to be well…G…thanks mucho…