Camden Catholic High School Basketball
Camden Catholic High School, located in Camden NJ between Broadway and North 7th Street at Federal Street, produced many superb basketball players in the early days of the game. Many former Camden Catholic players went on to play in the early professional basketball leagues in the pre-World War II years. In 1929 the Irish were winners of the New Jersey Parochial School Tournament and team competed in the National Catholic School Tournament in Chicago.
Camden Catholic High School was badly damaged in a fire on April 17, 1960. Instead of rebuilding in Camden, a new Camden Catholic High School was built outside the city at Route 38 and Cuthbert Road.
1929 Camden Catholic Basketball Team
1929 CCHS Team Gaining in Chicago Champs
Camden Courier-Post —
By Doug Frambes
Courier-Post Staff
The men sat around the table at Cinelli’s Country House. Successful, respected men! Community leaders, a United States Congressman among them.
Knowledgeable conversation on economics, politics, religion and business was theirs to offer— the Middle East, Far East, automation, housing … Would they talk of these?
* * *
No! They talked of the Jurassic Age of basketball when the center was only six feet tall, when there was no ten or three second rule, and the center jump followed every score.
* * *
How foolish the anti-athletic mumbo jumbo seemed as the room seemed to grow in enthusiasm. Was athletic glory as transitory as the cynics say? Maybe, but the anti-clique seems to forget one thing— the magic of memories.
The assembled group was the Camden Catholic High School basketball team of 1929 and the reason for the meeting was to reminisce about the hard fought contests which carried them to the state title and to the National Catholic Tournament in Chicago.
* * *
Gold plated 1929. The age of Ruth and Rockne; prohibition and prosperity. The stock market crash was yet to come. Could any group of high school boys imagine a greater thrill than to represent their institution in a national tournament?
* * *
It was a veteran aggregation which responded to new coach Al Hertzler’s first practice call in the autumn of 1928. Hertzler had replaced retiring coach Harry Cuneff, but it is doubtful that in his fondest dreams he saw how far the season’s trail would wind.
The NJSIAA at this time did not have an official Parochial division but the Trenton Diocese invited the top teams in the state to the capitol for the unofficial state crown.
* * *
The first obstacle hit the path of the local Irish was Red Bank Catholic and Hertzler’s crew rolled up an amazing (for those times) 46 points to coast to a 20-point triumph. Pete Budniak, later Father Budniak led the scoring with 13 points and Pat O’Brien contributed 12.
* * *
Immaculate Conception of Trenton was next and the city was a hot bed of scholastic basketball. In the public school ranks, it was the heyday of Red Smith’s great Trenton Central team and the two were also noted for their basketball prowess.
Camden emerged victories, 24-22 with Budniak tallying 10 points and Captain Babe Slapkowski eight.
* * *
The state final was another hectic struggle. With the localites edging St. Mary’s of Perth Amboy, 23-26. Wallace “Bud” Sheehan took game’s scoring honors with 14 points.
To Camden Catholic the game meant more than the state crown. It earned the team a trip to Chicago to compete against the nations best teams. Champions from most states were invited to a tournament sponsored by Loyola University.
* * *
The fabled “luck of the Irish” deserted them in the seedings. De La Salle of Chicago was the team drawn to face the locals, and it turned out to be the best parochial school team in America. The mid-westerners downed Camden, 29-14, and continued undefeated through the 17-day tourney.
It was a tough loss, but to a group of high school boys, a vacation to Chicago helped soothe the wounds. All invited schools remained for the entire tourney to enjoy the wonders of Sandburg’s “City with the wide shoulders.”
Knute Rockne autographing a team picture was a thrill to remember.
* * *
Late into the night the conversation continued. There were twenty-two glorious victories to recall and only five defeats. Evergreen are the memories of 1929.
Pat O’Brien summed it up. “Every time we meet we come closer to that Chicago team and maybe in 1969, the 40th anniversary, we’ll finally knock them all off.”
Where Are They?
Camden Courier-Post —
Three members of the championship squad, Coach Hertzler, Father Pete Budniak and Dave Neal are deceased.
Capt. Babe Slapkowski, the 6-foot center is in hotel work in Atlantic City. Pat O’Brien is Secretary-Treasurer of the Retail Clerk’s Union and has been a long time organizer and supporter of local sports.
William “Reds” O’Brien is a city detective in Camden. Ed McGowan is a North Jersey supervisor for Public Service. John Flood resides locally and is in the real estate business.
John Bach has long been employed by RCA. Bud Sheehan is assistant purchasing agent for the Delaware River Port Authority. Joe Sascovitz of Burlington works for Kaiser Gypsum.
Charley Woods roams the east coast for Merritt Chapman & Scott. Bill Cahill represents his district in Congress. Larry Creavy is sales manager for Raymond Rosen.
The team’s managers were Jim Campbell, Bob Blake and Joe Donahue. Campbell is a liquor salesman, Blake a Collingswood mortician and Donahue an executive with General Motors.
Tom Ryan, then and for many years thereafter, Sports Editor of the Courier-Post, helped chaperone the trip. Ryan is now retired and living in Camden.
Msgr. Paul Fairbrother, athletic director of Camden Catholic at the time, is now stationed at St. Patrick’s in Woodbury and has the same interest in “his” boys as he did four decades ago.
YMCA to Dedicate Gymnasium Floor
Camden Courier-Post —
Open House With Dancing to Follow Exercises at Central Branch
The Camden Y. M. C. A. will dedicate a new gymnasium floor tomorrow in its Central Branch, 614 Federal street, replacing one that served for 30 years.
Charles H. Wagner, president of the association, will conduct a meeting in the building at 5 p. m. at which dedicatory resolutions will be adopted. Following there will be “open house” for the public, a program of sports on the new floor and dancing.
The executive committee of the board of directors will present the dedicatory resolutions. Members are Wagner, Elmer E. Long, Alonzo W. Stedman, William H. Atkinson and A. Millard Taylor.
At a date to be announced later there is to be a dedication dinner at which there will be a speaker of national reputation.
The sports program, arranged by Kenneth E. Smullin, “Y” director of physical education, will include two basketball games, a handball match, to determine the champion of the “Y,” a badminton exhibition match, a gymnastic exhibition by members of the boys’ gym classes, and a table tennis exhibition.
The first basketball game to be played on the new floor will be between the Limited Senior team of the Y. M. C. A. and the Camden Catholic High School quintet. The other contest will be between the “Y” variety team and one made up of high school coaches in Camden and nearby communities.
Music for the dance following the sports program will be furnished by the Nelson-Rainey Orchestra.
Catholic High Has Plenty At Stake in Series Finale
Camden Courier-Post —
Must Beat Camden to Tie for City Title; Olesiewicz Can Pass Dixon in Scoring
Woodrow Wilson Star Leads With 40 Points
When Camden Catholic High’s quintet faces Camden High’s dribblers in the final game of the city basketball series Tuesday night at the Convention Hall court there will be plenty at stake.
The most important matter resting upon Tuesday’s combat, which should attract one of the largest crowds of the season at the civic hall, of course is the championship. The “Irish” must bowl over the Purple and Golds to finish in a tie with Woodrow Wilson High.
Then there is the individual and team scoring records for the 1937-38 series at stake. Both of these are at present in the possession of the “Presidents,” who rounded out their four-game schedule last Saturday night by defeating Camden, 41-31, to finish with three victories and one defeat.
Camden Has Mental Edge
Catholic at present shows a log of two wins and a single loss, the latter coming at the hands of the “Prexys” after the Barrymen had previously conquered Eddie Carrigues minions in an extra-period game, 42-41.
Camden will enter Tuesday’s game with nothing to gain or lose. As a result the charges of Coach Arthur “Hutzy” Blaker hold a mental edge over Catholic’s players, who have not won the title since the inception of the city series five years ago.
Naturally players on both clubs will be out to give everything they have Tuesday night. One group will be striving to salvage some glory from an inglorious season by scoring its first win in the city series and the other striving to acquire a title even though it will have to share it with Wilson. If successful Catholic will have tied for the crown twice, sharing honors with Camden in the inaugural series.
Although Wilson holds the upper hand in scoring by virtue of having engaged in four games against three each for Catholic and Camden, the “Irish” stand a fine chance of wresting both of these honors from the Thirty-first and Federal streets institution.
Dixon Paces Scorers
Ray Dixon, who played a prominent part in each of Wilson’s series games and has been a consistent offensive performer throughout the season, is pacing the players in the series. Garrigues’ ace forward, who is noted for his follow-up shots, scored a total of 40 points, netting 14 field goals and making good 12 out of 19 foul attempts.
But Bob Olesiewicz, Catholic’s star pivot man, is running Dixon a mighty close race. While the latter leads in both total points and number of fouls made, Olesiewicz is only a step behind the leader.
“Ossie” has turned in a total of 37 points in three games, leading the field with 15 field goals and accounting for seven out of 12 free throws. Without a doubt, unless he is bottled up completely, Olesiewicz should carry away the individual scoring records following Tuesday’s tussle.
Then there is the possibility that Catholic may also pull down team honors, should the entire club go off on a scoring spree. The “Irish” need 49 points to nose out Wilson for team honors.
‘Prexys’ Top Teams In Scoring
The “Presidents” garnered a total of 146 points in their four games, and also lead in the number of field and foul goals, sinking 51 of the former variety and 44 out of 67 penalty heaves.
Catholic on the other hand has collected a total of 98 points, netting 39 double-deckers and 20 out of 41 foul casts.
Dave Lewin, another Wilsonite, ranks third in the scoring with 29 points, while Captain Bob Boyd also of the “Prexys” is fourth with 26 counters and Fred Ackerman, of Catholic, is fifth with 21 points.
Ray Patton, the chunky forward on Blaker’s quintet, leads Camden High’s scorers and ranks sixth with 20 points.
One of the features of the series is the remarkable foul shooting exhibited by the Woodrow Wilson players. The Orange and Black clad youngsters made good 65.6 of their shoots, sinking 44 out of 67. They also lead both Catholic and Camden in the number of field goals with 55.
City Series Leaders
Ray Dixon
Bob Olesiewicz
These two eagle-eyed sharpshooters are setting the pace in the fifth annual city series individual scoring race. Dixon, Woodrow Wilson High forward, completed his four-game slate with a total of 40 points, while Olesiewicz, Catholic’s center, ranks next with 37 points scored in three games and stands a fine chance of pulling down top honors in the “Irish” remaining game with Camden next Tuesday night.
WOODROW WILSON
| G | Fld | Fl | FT | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dixon, f-g | 4 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 40 |
| Lewin, f | 4 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 29 |
| Boyd, f-c-g | 4 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 26 |
| Hoffman, g | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| Byrd, c-g | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 16 |
| Davis, c-g | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 15 |
| McAlack, g | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| L. Dunn, g | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Letzgus, f | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hill, c-g | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crane, f | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miller, g | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | 44 | 67 | 146 |
CAMDEN CATHOLIC
| G | Fld | Fl | FT | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olesiewicz, c | 3 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 37 |
| Ackerman, g | 3 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 21 |
| Puciluski, g | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| McGraw, f | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| Caridi, f | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Kenney, g-f | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Heigh, f-g | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Franks, c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | 20 | 41 | 98 |
CAMDEN HIGH
| G | Fld | Fl | FT | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patton, f | 3 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 20 |
| Martin, c | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| Gordon, g | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Gorecki, f-g | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Quick, f | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Walls, g | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Klein, g-f | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Young, c | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Wilkerson, c | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| Troncone, f | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Walls, c | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Krattenmaker, g | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Wells, c-g | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Roman, g | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | 21 | 51 | 77 |
Scores of Previous Games
Woodrow Wilson, 27; Camden, 26.
Camden Catholic, 28; Camden, 20.
Camden Catholic, 42; Woodrow Wilson, 41 (extra period).
Woodrow Wilson, 37; Camden Catholic, 28.
Woodrow Wilson, 41; Camden, 31.
Thrill a Minute
Camden High Purple & Gold Yearbook — 1943
The story of the 1942–1943 basketball season at Camden High is the story of a development—a development from the promising, but inexperienced, group of boys reporting for practice last November to the city champs of March.
Of the boys practicing at the start of the season, none had ever been a varsity starter, and Pete Mussa was the only lad who had ever played any varsity games at all. Starting off slowly, always feeling for a starting combination that would click, our team played some very good and some very poor basketball.
Then, about mid-season, things began to happen. The J.V.’s graduated Carter, Olesiewicz, Budessa and Kauffman to the varsity; Les Honey came back; and Camden went on to finish the season in great style. Two of our most outstanding victories were scored over the 1943 State finalists, Trenton and Asbury Park. Trenton went down by the score of 40–39, when Pete Mussa chalked up 19 points. Asbury Park fell by the convincing score of 35–29. Asbury has won the State Championship for the past three years.
Playing heads-up ball, the Camden courtmen staved off the strongest bid Catholic has ever made for the city crown. After dropping a game to Catholic, Camden toppled the confident Irish five in the second game of the city series. The resulting tie had to be broken in a playoff game. Both clubs were at a fever pitch for this game, and the last quarter found the score very close, Camden having relinquished an early lead. With three minutes left in the contest, the Catholic sharpshooter, Adams, swished a sensational basket that put the green and white out in front by one big point. At this point they started to freeze the ball. This strategy proved alarmingly successful. The minutes ticked away with the Irish cherishing their one-point lead. Suddenly, Syd Wenof batted the ball from the hands of Catholic’s astonished Captain Scott and, leaving the green team far behind, he dribbled the length of the court and ladled in the winning double-decker. It was the closest game ever played in the city series and left rooters, both Catholic and Camden, limp but happy.
The victorious Purple and Gold basketeers went on to win from Collingswood and Wilson, only to lose to Trenton in the State Tournament. Coach Bass’s dribblers had previously been eliminated from the County Tournament by the revengeful Collingswood team.
“Chick” Czyzewicz has been the big point-maker; Captain Mussa has played brilliant ball, as was shown by his 19-point splurge at Trenton; Bert Templeton’s last-period arrival has meant the difference between victory and defeat; Syd Wenof’s star defensive work has been topped off with points in the clutch; Honey’s backboard play has been outstanding; high-jumping Sylvester Wing and smooth-passing Paul Nay added much to the team’s victories; and the very good ball played by Carter and “Ossie” this year give promise of a great team next year.
As usual, our J.V.’s enjoyed an extremely successful season, under Coach Alfano. All credit goes to city champs “Winks” Kauffman, Charley Brooks, Sam Budessa, Walt Poore, Danny Davis, Charley Butler, Tony Migliaccio, Harold Katsoff, Joe Barbato, Grey Hayes.