Lutheran's Taylor will play in McDonald's All-American Game
Long Island Lutheran's Celeste Taylor drives against Baldwin's Jenna Annecchiarico in the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions Class AA girls semifinal basketball game on March 23, 2018, in Glens Falls, N.Y. Credit: Hans Pennink
Celeste Taylor has already proven herself internationally, winning two FIBA World Cup gold medals for Team USA. Now, she’ll have the opportunity to compete against the nation’s best high school seniors.
Rosters for the 42nd McDonald’s All-American Game were revealed Thursday, and Taylor — a Long Island Lutheran standout and Valley Stream native — was among the 24 girls named to the two 12-player teams. Taylor will represent the East on Wednesday, March 27, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
“It’s definitely a dream come true,” said Taylor, who learned the news at the Crusaders’ practice on Thursday. “Every girl who plays basketball dreams of this.”
Taylor is the first Long Island girls basketball player to be named to the McDonald’s roster since Bria Hartley (North Babylon) in 2010. Hartley was drafted No. 7 overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2014 WNBA draft.
A 5-11 wing named Newsday’s All-Long Island Player of the Year in 2018, Taylor averaged 23.8 points and 4.5 steals per game last season and has signed to play at Texas. She’ll play on the same roster as Aubrey Griffin (Ossining) and compete against Fran Belibi, the viral slam-dunking forward from Regis Jesuit (Colorado) who will play at Stanford.
