A sizzling shooting and MVP performance by Ryan Johnston led the way to the Trumbull Eagles giving their beloved and well-respected 34th-year coach, Buddy Bray, his first FCIAC championship.
That was the main highlight of the conference’s 2023-24 boys’ basketball season.
Ridgefield had another very good season. The Tigers rebounded from their semifinal loss in the FCIAC tournament to advance to the semifinals of the Division I state tournament and they would finish 22-3 and be ranked No. 6 as the only conference team in the Final 2023-24 GameTimeCT Boys Basketball Top 10 Poll.
There were three more FCIAC teams – Fairfield Warde, Stamford, and Fairfield Ludlowe – who advanced to the semifinals of their respective state tournaments.
Norwalk’s Jaylen Brown averaged 28 points to surpass the 1,000-point milestone in career scoring and he was named the conference’s Player of the Year while six more players joined him on the 2023-24 All-FCIAC Boys Basketball First Team.
Wilton High School’s nearly sold-out Nick Zeoli Fieldhouse was rocking throughout the Feb. 29 night when second-seeded Trumbull and fourth-seeded Staples put on quite a show in the 2024 FCIAC Boys Basketball Tournament championship game which needed a four-minute overtime session to decide which team would end a lengthy drought of winning a conference championship.
Johnston drained four three-pointers and fired in 29 points to lead Trumbull to a 70-67 overtime victory for the school’s first FCIAC title since the 1982-83 Eagles won it 41 years ago. Johnston, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, was selected MVP of the tournament. Sean Wilson scored 19 points and Brandon Fowler had 15 for Trumbull, which rallied back from deficits of 40-32 at halftime and 51-44 after three quarters. The Eagles outscored Staples, 11-4, to tie it up at 55-55.
Adam Udell led the Wreckers with 20 points. Mason Tobias scored 15 points and Sam Clachko had 13. Staples coach Dave Goldshore guided his Wreckers to the FCIAC final for the second straight year when they were not among the three highest-seeded teams. Third-seeded Danbury won last year’s FCIAC title with a 69-53 victory over sixth-seeded Staples.
Clachko sank seven three-pointers while pouring in 40 points as the Wreckers upset top-seeded Ridgefield, 73-57, in the FCIAC tournament semifinal doubleheader at Wilton on Feb. 27. Trumbull advanced with a 47-41 victory over sixth-seeded Danbury.
In the Feb. 24 quarterfinals at Fairfield Warde High School: Trumbull defeated No. 7 Warde, 57-38; Staples beat No. 5 Wilton, 60-43; defending champion Danbury advanced to the semifinals with a 50-46 victory over No. 3 Stamford, and Ridgefield cruised to a 55-37 victory over No. 8 Fairfield Ludlowe.
Ridgefield’s second-seeded Tigers won two games in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Boys Basketball Division I Tournament before their 48-45 loss to St. Bernard in the semifinals.
The Tigers, who got eliminated in the Division I state tournament semifinals last year, went undefeated in the FCIAC (15-0) and 19-1 in the regular season.
Fairfield Warde and Stamford both won three games in the CIAC Division II state tournament before being eliminated in the semifinals.
Fairfield Ludlowe was seeded No. 14 in the Division III state tournament and the Falcons won three games before losing in the semifinals by just a point, 37-36, to second-seeded Lewis Mills.
Trumbull had the second best FCIAC record of 12-3 and finished 20-4 overall after losing to Fairfield Warde, 56-49, in the second round of the Division II state tournament.
As for the other six teams who made up the field in the FCIAC tournament: Stamford had an 11-4 FCIAC record and finished 18-7 overall; Staples had an 11-4 conference record and finished 17-7 overall; Wilton was 10-5 in the FCIAC and 15-8 overall; Danbury was 10-5 in the FCIAC and 14-9 overall, Fairfield Warde was 9-6 in the FCIAC and 16-9 overall; and Fairfield Ludlowe’s Falcons snatched the last conference playoff berth with their 8-7 FCIAC record and they finished 15-9 overall after their 3-1 run in the Division III state tournament.
Norwalk’s Brown was the only FCIAC player among the 12 players on the 2023-24 GameTimeCT All-State Boys Basketball Team. Brown, who busted out with 50 points in one game this past season, made the All-FCIAC First Team and was an all-state selection for the second straight year. The 5-foot-9 senior guard averaged 28 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals a game this year. He averaged 19 points and scored 1,044 points in his career.
Ejai Presley, Stamford’s 6-foot-5 junior guard, joined Brown as the only two players who made the All-FCIAC First Team this year and last year.
Clachko, a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard for Staples, St. Joseph’s 5-foot-8 junior guard T.J. Wright, Danbury’s 6-foot-4 senior forward Cam Perkins, Ridgefield’s 6-foot-2 senior guard Alister Walsh, and Fairfield Ludlowe’s 6-foot-5 senior guard Tate Mahoney were the other five players selected to the All-FCIAC Boys Basketball First Team.
Presley, Perkins, and Walsh were three of the 12 players selected to the GameTimeCT All-State Second Team.
Clachko, Wright, and Ridgefield’s 6-foot-6 senior center Nick Sganga made the GameTimeCT All-State Third Team, and Johnston and Mahoney earned All-State Honorable Mention.
The FCIAC picked seven players each for the all-conference second and third teams.
Brandon Fowler and Johnston of Trumbull, Ridgefield’s Sganga, Fairfield Warde’s Jack Cramer, Greenwich’s Connor Parkes, Danbury’s Charnez Perkins, and Stamford’s Jeremiah Winchester made the All-FCIAC Second Team.
Udell of Staples, Wilton’s Ryan Luchetta, Ridgefield’s Ian Swiatowicz, Darien’s Will Sapione, Fairfield Ludlowe’s Charlie Mahoney, Stamford’s Ryan Connors, and Trumbull’s Owen Bull were on the All-FCIAC Third Team.
There were five more players selected to the FCIAC All-Defensive Team and that quintet consisted of Winchester of Stamford, Nick Sikorski of Staples, Ridgefield’s Andrew Griffin, Wilton’s Anderson Campbell, and Trumbull’s Sean Wilson.
The Coach of the Year in the FCIAC was John Dailey of Fairfield Ludlowe.
Notre Dame-West Haven had a perfect 28-0 season, won the first state championship in school history with a 52-49 victory over St. Bernard in the CIAC Division I championship game, and then the Green Knights were the unanimous choice for No. 1 in the GameTimeCT Final 2024 Top 10 Boys Basketball Poll.
Windsor (25-3) was ranked No. 2 after winning the CIAC Division II state tourney with a 59-57 overtime victory over West Haven.
Notre Dame-Fairfield (24-2), St. Bernard (23-4), and East Catholic (22-4) were ranked 3-through-5.
Ridgefield (22-3) was No. 6 and the only FCIAC team in the final Top 10 after going unbeaten in the FCIAC at 15-0 and advancing to the Division I semifinals for the second straight year. Last year Ridgefield and Staples were ranked No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, in the final state Top 10 poll.
Kolbe Cathedral (22-3) was ranked No. 7 and followed by West Haven (20-8), Waterbury Career (20-5) and Northwest Catholic (19-5).
Thirty teams received votes in this year’s final state poll and there were four FCIAC teams among the 20 in the “Others receiving votes” category. Trumbull (20-4) had the 13th most polling points, Stamford (18-7) received the 16th most, Staples (17-7) tied for the 21st most, and Fairfield Warde (16-9) got the 24th most.
Each of the 17 media members voted for their own top 15 teams in order and points were tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis.