A Fresh Start

Well, after another devastating first-round exit in last Spring’s playoffs, the Fighting Cantaloupe are back for the PlayMore Summer season. Despite the departure of Tyler and Connor this off-season, last week's opener was a bit of a homecoming as Player/Coach Sean O’Neill made his long-awaited return to the court. Though he was the only player on the team to not record a basket Thursday night, fans still gave him a warm welcome back after having been sidelined with a knee injury for the past year and change. Ryan D will also be rejoining the team after taking some time off, splitting a spot with Pendry, and Joey B. From there, the roster is pretty much the same as the Spring with the Butler Boys, the Welsh Bros, Lou, Kev, and Mikey G all coming back with hopes of getting over that early playoff hump.

The game itself was never in doubt last week. From the opening tip until the final buzzer, it was obvious to all in attendance that the Cantaloupe were simply the better team as they dominated The Process 61-30. Ryan took full advantage of the weak defense and poured in 26 points on 8/15 shooting from the field and 4/8 from beyond the arc. Lou also exploited the Process’ defense as he finished with one of the more efficient stat lines in recent memory going for 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals on 75% shooting from the floor. The Butler Boys put up pretty similar lines, each notching 2 points, and 5 boards a piece while Chris added in a couple of steals and a block, Anthony tacking on 1 assist. Kev and Joey B both had strong openers, Kev with 7 points, 9 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block while Joey had 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. Last but not least was Sean. While not one of his three shot attempts resulted in any buckets, he did manage to avoid a completely empty stat line by hauling in a single monstrous rebound that really proved to be the difference-maker in the team's narrow 31-point victory.

Sadly fans will have to wait to see the Cantaloupe back in action as there will be no game this week on account of the holiday. So kick back, relax, fire up the grill, maybe get some shots up *cough Sean *cough, and enjoy a week off because come Tuesday the 11th, the Cantaloupe are back and taking on the currently 0-1 Law of Averages. Law of Averages lost their season opener 25-50 against Malice at the Palace but they will have a chance to get back on track before facing the Cantaloupe as they take on the Process this Thursday, July 7th @ 9:30 pm. As always, check back in next week for all of your Cantaloupe scores, news, and updates.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

July 3rd, 2022