Roxas Vanguards keep fairytale run, advance to Mindanao leg finals

CEBU, Philippines —  The Petra Cement-Roxas Vanguards sustained their fairytale run after crushing Zamboanga City, 83-72, in the deciding match of their best-of-three semifinal series to march into the Mindanao leg finale of the inaugural Pilipinas Vismin Super Cup season last Friday night at the Pagadian City Gymnasium in Zamboanga del Sur.

Making it to the championship round is already a feat in itself for the Vanguards of Roxas Mayor Atty. Jan Hendrik Vallecer and coach Eddie Laure, who lost in their first three games but battled back with aplomb to reach the semis as fourth seed before eventually knocking out the fancied Zamboanga.

The Vanguards will continue their quest for the historic Mindanao title as they clash head-on with the top-ranked Jumbo Plastic-Basilan in the best-of-three finals that will commence at 7 p.m. today.

Basilan gained an outright finals berth after sweeping the eliminations.

Roxas, on the other hand, had to fend off the gritty Zamboanga side before earning the right to challenge Basilan for the coveted crown.

Against Zamboanga, Roxas used an explosive 23-16 run in the third canto to establish a huge 66-52 advantage entering the last 10-minute mark of he contest.

“Sinasabi ko lagi sa players ko na ang Zamboanga mas beterano sa atin yan, tayo hindi rin naman tayo ganon kabata at may beterano rin tayo na dapat mag step-up. Buti hindi naman nagpabaya ang mga beterano namin,” said coach Laure.

Zamboanga pulled within seven points, 71-78, on two free throws by Fran Yu with 1:58 left but Roxas held on its ground to preserve a double-digit victory.

Jordan Sta. Ana paced the Vanguards with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. He was ably backed up by Leo Najorda with 16 points, all coming from the second half, Lester Reyes with13 markers points and 12 rebounds and  MVP candidate James Castro, who filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.