Ridgefield’s Luke McGarrity was selected to the GameTimeCT All-State Boys Basketball First Team and the Connecticut High School Coaches Coaches Association All-State Boys Basketball Division 1 Team to highlight the group of 11 FCIAC players who earned all-state distinction.
McGarrity, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, averaged 18.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists while helping Ridgefield’s defending FCIAC champion Tigers win their third conference title in the last four years.
The two-time team captain was previously named the conference’s Player of the Year when he was among the seven players selected to the 2019-20 All-FCIAC Boys Basketball First Team.
McGarrity was among four conference players selected by both GameTimeCT and the CHSCA. The CHSCA and GameTimeCT each had different categories with which they designated their selections.
The CHSCA chose 54 total players and separated them with five divisions. There were 11 selections each for all-state Division 1, Division 2, Division 4, and Division 5 teams, while 10 made the Division 3 team. The divisions in which each player made an all-state team correlated with what division their respective school was in for the five separate state tournaments.
The GameTimeCT selections, a continuation of all-state teams annually picked by the New Haven Register since 1949, included 12 players each on all-state first, second and third teams, while another 43 players earned All-State Honorable Mention.
Malcolm Newman of Trinity Catholic joined McGarrity as the other FCIAC player on the Game-TimeCT All-State First Team. The 6-foot-2 senior guard averaged 16 points and 3.7 assists in the final 13 games in which he was eligible to play for the Crusaders after he transferred from Iona Prep.
Newman’s addition was an integral reason the Crusaders finished 18-6 in the final season ever for Trinity Catholic High School. Declining enrollment in recent years led to the school having to be closed. The Crusaders had a 6-5 record without Newman and went 12-1 the rest of the way, with their only loss coming against Ridgefield by a 63-58 margin in the championship game of the FCIAC Boys Basketball Tournament.
Jake Thaw of Staples, James Bourque of Fairfield Ludlowe and Paul Fabbri of St. Joseph were senior guards who joined McGarrity as being among the four conference players who earned all-state honors by both GameTimeCT and the CHSCA.
Thaw was selected to the GameTimeCT All-State Second Team and the CHSCA All-State Division 2 Team.
Bourque and Fabbri each made the GameTimeCT All-State Third Team and the CHSCA All-State Division 3 Team.
Rahsen Fisher, Trinity Catholic’s 6-foot-5 senior forward, and Fairfield Warde’s 6-foot-1 senior guard Brendan McMahon were the other conference players selected to the GameTimeCT All-State Third Team.
The three FCIAC players who were GameTimeCT Honorable Mention were Fairfield Ludlowe’s 6-foot-6 senior forward Ian Bentley and Trumbull’s senior guards Mileeq Green and Quentar Taylor.
McGarrity, Fabbri, Thaw, Bourque, Fisher, Lucas Basich of Staples and Wilton’s Kyle Hyzy were the seven players on the 2019-20 All-FCIAC Boys Basketball First Team.
Prior to Ridgefield’s 63-58 victory over Trinity Catholic in the FCIAC final, Ridgefield’s Tigers advanced with a 54-47 semifinal victory over Fairfield Ludlowe and a 60-37 quarterfinal victory over New Canaan. Trinity Catholic advanced with a pair of close wins – 53-50 over Wilton in the first round and then 57-55 over Fairfield Warde in the semifinals.
The state tournaments had just gotten underway when the CIAC announced the cancellation of the remaining winter postseason tournaments due to concerns regard the coronavirus on March 10.
With Newman’s selection to the 2019-20 GameTimeCT All-State First Team, he became the 12th and final Crusader in school history to have been a Register all-state first-team player.
Tom Robustelli was the first Crusader to have been so honored when he was among the five on the 1974-75 All-State Class M Team. John Smith made the 1980-81 All-State Class M Team. Robustelli and Smith are the only two Crusaders who made all-state when the school was officially called Stamford Catholic High School.
Rashamel Jones made the 1992-93 all-state first team and eventually became a three-time all-state player from 1992-95 before matriculating to the University of Connecticut, where he was co-captain of UConn’s first NCAA championship team in 1998-99.
The eight other Crusaders who were all-state first-team selections were Kareem Lee (1997-98), Shaaron Sinvilcin (1998-99), Torey Thomas (twice from 2001-03, Player of the Year in ’03), Dave McClure (three times from 2001-04, Player of the Year in ’04), Craig Austrie (twice from 2003-05), Chris Skrelja (2004-05), Tevin Baskin (three times from 2006-09), and Schadrac Casimir (2012-13).