THE Zamboanga Valientes ruled the Sketch World Cup Championship in Hong Kong, defeating Pilipinas-Hong Kong in the title match, 51-49, behind the endgame heroics of Peter Alfaro.
Jerome Ferrer's quick inbound led to Alfaro’s floater off two defenders right at the buzzer to hand the Valientes the title in last weekend's game.
Hong Kong side trip
The Valientes joined the tournament shortly after finishing their campaign in the Guandong leg of The Asian Tournament.
Two free throws by Pilipinas-Hong Kong knotted the count for the last time before the former San Beda skipper came through with the winning basket.
Alfaro led the Valientes with 13 points, Joewish Gracia had 12, while Job Alcantara and Med Salim added 11 and 10, respectively.
Team owner Junie Navarro was proud with the latest feat of the Valientes, who fielded a team of mainly Zamboanguenos to the 10-team tournament that featured entries from Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, USA, Europe, and China.
Tough road to title
Other members of the team from Zamboanga include former PBA player Mike Tolomia and Das Esa.
The road to the title wasn’t easy for the Valientes though, as they had to upset Canada in the knockout quarterfinals featuring 6-foot-11 Jasonn Hannibal, formerly with NCAA Division 1 school University of Portland, and then beat Australia in the semis to reach the finals.
The campaign of the Valientes, according to Navarro, was supported by Col. Ariel Querubin, Danny Feneral, Jeremy Go, owners Cory Navarro and Mike Venezuela, Mayor John Dalipe, and Congressman Mannix Dalipe.
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