Zamboanga Valientes banking on home crowd in VisMin Cup semis duel vs Ormoc

MANILA, Philippines – The Zamboanga Valientes begin their tough climb in the VisMin Super Cup on Thursday when they tangle with the Ormoc OCCI Sheermaster at the Zamboanga City Coliseum.

As the third-finisher in the elimination round, Zamboanga's pride needs to beat second-placer Ormoc twice to crash into the finals.

That would be hard to do as they've lost to the Sheermaster in their first two meetings en route to a 9-5 record.

The Valientes, however, are hoping the Zamboanguenos would come in droves and provide them the inspiration and motivation to stun the Ormocanons (10-3).

The other semifinal pits CPG Bohol (12-1) against MACFI-Basilan (7-6). Like Zamboanga, Basilan needs to beat Bohol twice to enter the finals.

Veteran Reed Juntilla, former MVP of the defunct PBL, and homegrown stars Jonathan Parreno, Gino Jumao-as, Jeff Bernardo and Denver Cadiz, the 5-foot-4 marvel who's easily the most popular player in the eight-team tournament.

Ormoc will be led by former NCAA Rookie MVP Gabby Espinas.

"The fans will be our sixth man," said Valientes coach Joseph Romarate. "Our back-to-back wins over ZamPen and Tubigon Mariners show that we are ready. Although we are the underdogs, we will try our best to beat OCCI."

Regardless of the outcome of their VisMin stint, sportsman Rolando Navarro Jr., representing his mother and team owner Cory Navarro, has promised the Valientes of participation in the ABL tournament set in Bali, Indonesia, starting on April 19.

According to Navarro, lower box tickets are almost sold-out, guaranteeing that hordes of fans will be cheering for the Valientes, backed by Go for Gold, GlobalPort, 1-Pacman Partylist through Rep. Mikee Romero and MVL Group of Mike Venezuela, in their do-or-die game against the Sheermaster.