There were five girls basketball players and a trio of boys basketball players from the FCIAC who were selected to their respective all-state teams by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.
Fairfield Ludlowe seniors Madison Roman and Kaleigh Sommers, and Fairfield Warde sophomore Ryanne Gulbin were the three FCIAC players among the 11 total players chosen to the CHSCA Girls Basketball Class LL All-State Team.
Roman was a versatile forward who averaged 11.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Roman and Somers helped lead Ludlowe’s Falcons to a memorable 26-1 season which included the first FCIAC championship in school history and advancement to the Class LL state championship game, where they lost their only game of the year to an unbeaten Hamden team (27-0) by a 63-48 margin.
New Canaan senior Madeline Donaldson and St. Joseph junior Erin Lovett were selected to CHSCA Girls Basketball Class L All-State Team.
The CHSCA bestowed all-state honors to 50 total girls players and designated them into five classifications – 11 players in Class LL; 10 each in Class L, Class MM and Class M; and nine in Class S.
Roman, Sommers, Gulbin, Donaldson, Lovett, Trumbull’s Megan Garrity, Ridgefield’s Anna Gillan, and Danbury’s Jolie Osborne were the eight players who were previously selected to the All-FCIAC Girls Basketball First Team. Roman was named Player of the Year in the FCIAC.
Caitlin Finnegan of Fairfield Ludlowe scored 14 points to help lead the Falcons to a 52-42 victory over St. Joseph in the FCIAC championship game and she was named MVP of the conference tournament. Finnegan was among the eight players on the All-FCIAC Girls Basketball Second Team along with Fairfield Warde’s Emmy Carley, St. Joseph’s Erin Donegan, Danbury’s Cameron Froehlich, Trumbull’s Rylan Massey, Norwalk’s Samatha Philipp, Greenwich’s Sophia Sergio, and Stamford’s Pauline Vlahakis.
The CHSCA designates its all-state teams in the categories of the five classes which the girls state tournaments have and the five divisions in the boys state tournaments.
The FCIAC consists mostly of larger schools, so the conference players are generally on the larger class and divisional all-state teams.
There were 68 combined boys who earned CHSCA all-state honors – 13 each in Division I, Division IV, and Division V; and 14 each in Division II and Division III.
Christian Jeffers of Danbury, Jack Plesser of Fairfield Warde, and Norwalk’s Jaylen Brown were the three FCIAC players who were each selected to their respective all-state teams.
Jeffers, a 6-foot-5 senior forward who averaged 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, was among the 13 players on the CHSCA Boys Basketball Division I All-State Team. Jeffers was named MVP of the 2023 FCIAC Boys Basketball Tournament after he fired in 25 points to lead Danbury’s Hatters to a 69-53 victory over Staples in the championship game.
Plesser was selected to the CHSCA Boys Basketball Division II All-State Team. The 6-foot-4 senior guard averaged 22 points and seven rebounds per game and was named Player of the Year in the FCIAC.
Brown, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, made the CHSCA Boys Basketball Division III All-State Team.
Jeffers, Plesser and Brown were previously selected to the eight-player All-FCIAC Boys Basketball First Team along with Chris Zajac of Staples, Danbury’s Cam Perkins, Stamford’s Ejai Presley, Wilton’s Tom McKiernan, and Trumbull’s Sean Racette.
The eight players named to the All-FCIAC Boys Basketball Second Team included Evan Kozdeba and Nick Sganga of Ridgefield, Warde’s David Melson, Darien’s Simeon Doll, Bridgeport Central’s Rollins Youte, Brien McMahon’s Grant Matkins, New Canaan’s Griffin Bramwit, and St. Joseph’s TJ Wright.