Ridgefield High School Wins 4th Straight FCIAC Basketball Championship
It's a dynasty!! For the first time in FCIAC history, a team has put together a string of four straight basketball championships.
Just to give you an idea of how tough it is to win that many consecutive titles in a high school sport, you have to realize that since High School is only four years, players will come and go. Star athletes won't stick around forever, they graduate, so winning championships, especially back to back can be almost an impossible feat.
That's why what the Ridgefield Tigers have put together over the last four years is very impressive, and a lot of the kudos have to go to the coaching staff, especially head coach Andrew McClellan.
Not only did Ridgefield win again by defeating Wilton 46-40 in front of a capacity crowd at the Zeoli Field House on Thursday night, but believe it or not it was Ridgefield's fifth FCIAC title in the last six years.
The Tigers were led by the games leading scorer Senior Justin DiFabio who scored 15 and made five 3 pointers including two in the third quarter that was part of a 14-0 run by the Tigers. DiFabio was also named the player of the game.
Another key player in Ridgefield's victory was 6 foot 6 senior center Dylan Veilete who was enfuego in the fourth quarter scoring 6 of his 10 points. His solid play throughout the playoffs got him named the Tournament MVP.
So what's next for the Tigers? Well one thing is for sure, they are going to do everything they can to rebuild and be the team to beat again next season. With a number of graduating players on the team, it will be a heavy lift, but head coach Coach McClellan is up for the challenge and had this to say after the win to to the press and ctinsider.com:
We’ve had a lot of success hear and it’s hard to qualify it but when you say ‘no one has done that,’ it makes you realize how special it is. I though it was impressive that we have even been to four in-a-row. To win 12 FCIAC playoff games in-a-row, you can ask any coach in the FCIAC, you don’t take those for granted. I don’t have words for that. These kids have done such a great job believing and buying in. I am just super proud of the program.