Thousands of points, memories as Kearny hoop greats return

Of all the hundreds of boys’ basketball players that have played for Kearny High School over the years, only eight reached the prestigious milestone of scoring 1,000 points.

It means that Kearny’s 1,000-point club is an elite organization with very few members, dating back to the late Bob Kirk, who was the first Kardinal hoop standout to attain his 1,000^th point in 1944.

Last year, current Kearny head coach Bob McDonnell thought it would be a good idea to get the seven surviving members of the Kearny 1,000-point club together.

Other schools in New Jersey have been embracing their history by honoring their all-time greats. Believe it or not, Kearny does have a solid basketball tradition _ and these eight men personify the legacy of Kardinal hoop history.

“We’re trying to get some tradition by bringing the alumni back,” McDonnell said. “I wanted to get some recognition for the 1,000-point scorers and build a rapport between the older players and the current team. If we were able to do that, then more people might become interested.”

Last Friday night, McDonnell, the Kearny athletic program and booster club welcomed back six of the seven surviving members of the Kearny 1,000-point club for a pre-game reception prior to the Kards’ game against Cliffside Park.

It was a great night for reminiscence, for memories, for laughter, for pride.

One thing’s for certain: All of them knew their exact point totals, even though some haven’t played for the Kardinals in more than four decades.

It shows how much pride they all have in being a member of such an elite group.

Ralph Landi (Class of 1972) recently retired after more than 25 years serving the youth of his hometown in the Kearny Recreation department. He didn’t hesitate when asked his point total. He knew right away it was 1,095.

“I was on the team that played the last season at Washington School,” said Landi, noting that the court at the old school wasn’t a conventional size and if you took one step wide on a corner jump shot, you were out of bounds. Of course, there was no such thing as the 3-point field goal back then. “You couldn’t take a step in the corner.”
When Landi heard of the reunion of the 1,000-point scorers, he was elated.

“I was very surprised,” Landi said. “We haven’t had anything like this before. It was a good idea. Maybe it might bring some people back and see these kids play.”

Landi said that he was pleased to be a teammate of former Boston Red Sox relief ace Bob Stanley during their days at Kearny High. Stanley was the pitcher for the Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when the Mets mounted their miraculous comeback in the bottom of the 10^th inning, capped by the Bill Buckner error on Mookie Wilson’s slow roller to first base.

“He was a good teammate of mine,” said Landi, whose late brother, Mike, was a two-time All-State football player at Kearny in the 1960s who made the Star-Ledger’s All-Decade team for their Team of the Century package.

Landi said that he vividly remembers a tough loss to East Orange, when East Orange was state-ranked.

“We were winning the whole game and ended up losing by two,” said Landi, who scored 33 points in that game and made two shots from half court, one at the halftime buzzer and the other at the end of the third quarter. “I can never forget that.”

Bob Reto (Class of 1975) also knew his precise point total _ 1,121 points. Now residing in Verona and the owner of a small consulting business firm, Reto goes one step closer when it comes to the famous Red Sox reliever.

“Bob Stanley is my cousin,” Reto said. “We didn’t play together, but he came back to see me play against East Orange and it was my best game ever. Bobby screamed at Ken Young, East Orange’s best player, saying, ‘You can’t stop him.’ And Young couldn’t. That stuck in my head. Bobby remembers it as well. He said. ‘It’s your turn.’”

Reto went on to play at New Jersey Institute of Technology for two years. His father, Joe, was the principal at Franklin School in Kearny for years.

“It was a real nice evening for my family and I,” Reto said. “I’m thankful they did it.”

John Latka (Class of 1977) was a teammate with Reto who knew right away that he scored 1,255 points before heading off to play NCAA Division I basketball at Tennessee Tech with Kearny teammate Jake McNish.

“It’s always good to see everyone again,” said Latka, who is the senior vice president of electric and gas operations for PSEG. “I got to see some of my teammates. I think it’s such a great accomplishment to reach 1,000 points. It’s great that they had a night like this.”
When asked if he had one memory that stood out, Latka replied, “My teammates. We had some great times and good games back then. The Big Ten (Conference, where the Kardinals participated) was the best. Every night was a tough game. We played a different style of basketball. I learned a lot from those days.”

And being from Kearny prepared Latka for his college and later adult life.

“We learned how to deal with adversity,” Latka said. “You had to be tough. You had no choice.”

Jeff Smedberg (Class of 1978) was a teammate of Latka and Reto after transferring to Kearny from Queen of Peace. Smedberg would become a scoring machine, averaging more than 20 points per game his senior year and ending with 1,502 at Kearny, although he wasn’t too sure.

“I think what motivated us was that Kearny didn’t really have an identity as a basketball town,” Smedberg said. “It was mainly soccer. But we were pretty good ourselves and wanted to make sure that people knew we were pretty good. We would constantly score in the 100s.”

Smedberg said that he vividly remembers beating Bloomfield, with High School All-American and future NCAA All-American with Notre Dame and NBA All-Star with the Detroit Pistons Kelly Tripucka on its roster and St. Anthony of Jersey City in consecutive games.

“We played all these teams from the Top 20 in the state and we beat a lot of them,” Smedberg said. “Of our 27 games that year, 16 were against the Top 20. We lost to North Bergen (the eventual NJSIAA Group IV state champion) by one point.”

Smedberg went on to play at Roan State in Tennessee and later Bergen County Community College, where he scored 25 points per game, before taking a job as a courier with Federal Express. Smedberg has spent the last 33 years with FedEx.

“It was a great idea to have a night like this,” said Smedberg, who lives in North Arlington, but hadn’t seen some of his teammates in 30-plus years. “There’s still that camaraderie and chemistry.”

There had been a long gap between Smedberg in 1978 and Dylan Hoch, who reached the 1,000-point plateau in 2013. Hoch ended his career with 1,019 points and reached the milestone in his final game. He also knew his point total without looking at the banner hanging in the gym.

“My last game of the season was against Queen of Peace and I needed like 11 to get to it,” said Hoch, currently a senior at Penn State, majoring in business management. “I got 30 that night.”

Hoch had a point explosion down the stretch of his career, reaching 49, 40 and 38 in consecutive games.

“I came home from school for this,” Hoch said. “I got the e-mail from Coach (McDonnell) and then he called me when I was in California for the Rose Bowl. I was excited about being here. There are only eight in history and I’m one of the eight. I had to be here. It’s nice to tell someone about it. I have a lot of memories. Maybe getting the 49 (against McNair Academic) or that last game against QP. Something like this definitely brings people together, brings the players of the past with the kids of today. The team got to meet us. It was a great thing to do.”

The youngest of the group is Joe Baez, who reached the 1,000-point club last season before heading off to Bergen County Community to play baseball. Baez also knew his total of 1,058 points. It must be that scorer’s mentality.

“How can you explain being the young kid?” Baez said. “I feel like Jason Kidd. It’s an honor for me to be with these guys.”

Baez will play baseball at Bergen this spring.

“Being here makes me miss basketball so much,” Baez said. “When I heard about this night, I had to be here, especially since I’m so young.”

McDonnell was happy to get such a great turnout for the event.
“I know the guys were happy,” McDonnell said. “I know they thought it was a great idea. Our players got a chance to see some of the Kearny history.”

Keith Goresh (Class of 1994) was the lone living member of the 1,000-point club not to attend the festivities.

After the reception, there was a game to be played. The Kards won the game, 65-41, to even their seasonal mark at 7-7. Gralen Vereen had 10 points, 10 assists and six steals to lead the way. Javon Jackson led the way with 14 points.

All in all, it was a great night for Kearny basketball, past and present.