By Dave Brousseau

FORT LAUDERDALE – The basketball rivalry between the St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons boys’ teams had an extra added attraction other than determining a winner on earlier this week.

Aquinas senior guard Drake Sandi and Gibbons senior guard A.J. Ambrose were both on the verge of a special milestone in becoming members of the 1,000-career points fraternity.

Both reached the goal with Sandi doing so with 5:34 left in the first half of the Raiders 79-68 victory at Cardinal Gibbons High, while Ambrose reached his moment to celebrate with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter.

The game was stopped at the time of each player’s accomplishment.

Sandi ended his night with 23 points. Ambrose finished with 26 points.

“This was something that’s never been done at St. Thomas before,” said Drake Sandi. “Doing that was special to me. It was a great feeling. If it weren’t for my teammates this wouldn’t have happened.”

“It was a surreal moment,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Julius Sandi and father to Drake. “He technically has worked to be successful player. I’m just happy for him ss he’s a hard-working kid.”

Sandi entered the second quarter one point shy of the magical accomplishment with the Raiders holding on to a 43-34 lead at the completion of the first half.

Aquinas (5-0) continued to build their lead to 15 points at the conclusion of the third quarter at 60-45.

Ambrose did his best to put a dent into the Raiders lead with eight points in the final quarter.

“This feels great as I’ve been working so hard for this,” said Ambrose, who played his first two varsity season at Aquinas. “I’ve been working hard and grinding every day to establish on of my big goals.”

“He’s a special kid, a special player,” said Gibbons’ coach Bill Mallon about star player. “He’ just winner. This is what you coach for stuff like this.”

The Raiders improved to 6-2 over the Chiefs over the past decade.

Junior guard Clarence Westbrook led Aquinas with 24 points, while Nate Accius added 18 points and Kellson Sandi finished with 11 points. Westbrook looks to be the next Aquinas player to reach the 1000-point plateau in the coming weeks.

Senior guard Justus Dylan-Herbert added 20 points for Gibbons (2-1).

Dave Brousseau is a veteran journalist who worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a longtime BCAA Correspondent. Need to reach out to him? Contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.