Veteran Bloomfield boys basketball coach Mike Passero knows his Bengals team is going to encounter several different styles of play throughout the high school season.
That diverse set of playing styles and teams is what makes the annual Bloomfield Summer League one of the best in North Jersey on a year in and year out basis.
“I think that’s what makes it great for everybody in the league,” said Passero. “You’re going to see different styles throughout the year, and it’s great to see it in the summertime and experiment with different things and see how your guys react. It’s great for everybody.”
It’s why the league has remained strong for more than 15 years after being started by previous head coach Pat Brunner, now the athletic director at Morris Knolls.
In total, 14 teams, 12 from Essex County, are participating this summer. Each team gets eight regular games and at least one game in the playoffs, which began on Monday, July 21. The first round is set for Monday and Tuesday with the quarterfinals set for Wednesday. Thursday is the semifinals starting at 5 p.m., followed by the title game at 7.
“It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of planning, but what makes it work is that the teams we have, and the majority of them come back every year,” Passero said. “They’re great, they make it easy and they show up.
“One thing that I really like about the league this year, it’s really balanced. There’s a handful of teams at 6-2 and 5-3 and 4-4. It’s really been competitive, up and down, all the teams.”
Locally, Bloomfield earned the third seed for the playoffs and is led by guards AJ Cruz and Sean Perrotta, both rising juniors.Perrotta, who led the Bengals in scoring last season at 13.3 points per game and Cruz (10.4 per game) are set to be rare four-year starters for Bloomfield.
Nutley, which has been run this summer by longtime assistant Rob Porrino following the March retirement of Bob Harbison after 26 years as head coach, is the 14th seed. According to Passero, the Maroon Raiders, who graduated eight seniors from last year’s 15-11 squad, have “been playing well,” despite a less than stellar record.
Glen Ridge and Millburn earned the top two seeds and first round byes after a strong regular season. Following Bloomfield is fourth-seeded Livingston and fifth-seeded Caldwell.
Regardless of the final record, Passero knows this time in his league, as well the various other summer leagues and camps they’ve been in will prove beneficial in December as Bloomfield looks to build off a 16-12 season.
“I think almost all coaches will tell you, this is just such an important time of the year for planning for the winter,” said Passero. “There’s a lot of individual skill training going on in the summertime. There’s a lot of weight training going on in the summertime. There’s a lot of them playing together and gelling as a team in the summertime. All those things hopefully translate into the winter season.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)