For the first time ever, the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders boys basketball is ranked in the Top 25. After winning 11 straight games and two tournaments over the holiday break, MaxPreps has labeled STA as the 25th best team in the country.
Head coach Julius Sandi has led the team to convincing tournament victories in the Kreul Classic and the Kingdom of Sun tournament.
“We just hang our hat on defense for the most part,” Sandi said to Sports Ilustrated after the triumph at the Kingdom of Sun. “We defend and we play with a pace and we play fast. This trophy means a lot, our kids knew coming in what it was all about.”
“We know we put in just as much work as they do, if not more,” said senior forward DJ Wimbley to Sports Illustrated. “We are in the weightroom and we are strong, too. I feel like we can compete with any height. We got heart. Every day we are just working to get to Lakeland.”
The Raiders face Hialeah Educational Academy at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6th as they look to extend their winning streak to 12 games. Tickets can be found at gofan.co and the game will be live streamed on the NFHS Network.
