# 2018–19 Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines season

The 2018–19 Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines season was the inaugural season of the franchise in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
Initially under the Zamboanga Valientes banner, the team ended the 2018 calendar year with a 7–10 record. After the relaunch as the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines, the team would improve to a 12–13 record, claiming the South Division's sixth seed. Their division quarterfinals opponent was the third-seeded Muntinlupa Cagers, where despite losing the first game of the series, would win the next two to accomplish an upset win and advance to the division semifinals against the defending champion Batangas City Athletics. They would win the first game, but lost the next two games in opposing grounds.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 4 | GenSan Warriors | 25 | 14 | 11 | .560 | 6 | Playoffs |
| 5 | Bacoor City Strikers | 25 | 13 | 12 | .520 | 7 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines | 25 | 12 | 13 | .480 | 8 | Playoffs |
| 7 | Imus Bandera | 25 | 11 | 14 | .440 | 9 | Playoffs |
| 8 | Cebu City Sharks | 25 | 11 | 14 | .440 | 9 | Playoffs |
* 1 2 Imus wins tiebreaker over Cebu City by head-to-head victory.

### Schedule

2018–19 Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines season schedule :
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Record |
| 1 | June 14 | Laguna | W 86–80 | Alonte Sports Arena | 1–0 |
| 2 | June 23 | Mandaluyong | L 61–71 | Imus City Sports Complex | 1–1 |
| 3 | July 4 | Muntinlupa | L 69–85 | Marist School | 1–2 |
| 4 | July 16 | Marikina | W 87–80 | Angeles University Foundation | 2–2 |
| 5 | July 26 | Pasig | W 92–78 | Pasig Sports Center | 3–2 |
| 6 | August 8 | Navotas | W 89–78 | Blue Eagle Gym | 4–2 |
| 7 | August 21 | Rizal | L 73–77 | Pasig Sports Center | 4–3 |
| 8 | September 5 | San Juan | L 59–80 | Filoil Flying V Centre | 4–4 |
| 9 | September 29 | Parañaque | L 58–68 | Caloocan Sports Complex | 4–5 |
| 10 | October 6 | Basilan | W 94–80 | University of San Jose–Recoletos | 5–5 |
| 11 | October 27 | Manila | L 59–60 | Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum | 5–6 |
| 12 | November 7 | Makati | L 65–77 | Ynares Center | 5–7 |
| 13 | November 15 | Caloocan | W 72–67 | Strike Gymnasium | 6–7 |
| 14 | November 20 | Davao Occidental | L 68–93 | Valenzuela Astrodome | 6–8 |
| 15 | November 27 | Batangas City | L 93–104 | Batangas City Coliseum | 6–9 |
| 16 | December 8 | Quezon City | L 81–109 | San Andres Sports Complex | 6–10 |
| 17 | December 22 | Bulacan | W 75–72 | Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium | 7–10 |
| 18 | January 7 | Bataan | L 74–76 | Bataan People's Center | 7–11 |
| 19 | January 17 | Valenzuela | W 79–71 | Caloocan Sports Complex | 8–11 |
| 20 | January 30 | General Santos | L 69–78 | Navotas Sports Complex | 8–12 |
| 21 | February 5 | Pasay | W 91–74 | Cuneta Astrodome | 9–12 |
| 22 | February 18 | Cebu City | W 61–58 | Marist School | 10–12 |
| 23 | February 23 | Bacoor City | W 72–63 | Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum | 11–12 |
| 24 | March 4 | Imus | W 83–78 | Strike Gymnasium | 12–12 |
| 25 | March 9 | Pampanga | L 85–87 | Angeles University Foundation | 12–13 |
| Source: Schedule |||||||

## Playoffs
### Schedule

2019 Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines playoffs schedule :
| Round | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Series |
| Division quarterfinals | 1 | March 19 | Muntinlupa | L 78–89 | Batangas City Coliseum | 0–1 |
| Division quarterfinals | 2 | March 21 | Muntinlupa | W 84–73 | Muntinlupa Sports Complex | 1–1 |
| Division quarterfinals | 3 | March 25 | Muntinlupa | W 87–83 | Batangas City Coliseum | 2–1 |
| Division semifinals | 1 | March 27 | Batangas City | W 72–58 | Rizal Memorial Colleges | 1–0 |
| Division semifinals | 2 | March 30 | Batangas City | L 57–67 | Batangas City Coliseum | 1–1 |
| Division semifinals | 3 | April 2 | Batangas City | L 72–80 | Batangas City Coliseum | 1–2 |
| Source: Schedule ||||||||

## Split from the Valientes

In December 2018, the team management announced that they would be splitting from the Zamboanga Valientes at the start of the 2019 calendar year, essentially making the MPBL side independent. According to operations head Nini Arquiza, undisclosed management issues is what caused the reshuffling and that the former management wanted the team to "go for the championship". The team would later be relaunched as the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines.
In the aftermath, the new franchise would make the playoffs in every season since the relaunch, even making the 2022 national finals, where they would lose to the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in four games. The Valientes continued to compete in other leagues such as the PBA 3x3 and the ASEAN Basketball League. In 2023, the Valientes would win in the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup's Open Championship.