The Fighting Cantaloupe etched out a clutch win last Wednesday, handing the High Hill Alumni their first loss of the young Summer season. After a shaky first half ended with the Cantaloupe down three, an eventful second half saw our boys pull out the clutch 46-43 win to improve to 2-0. The second half started with a bang as long time 'loupe G/F Nick Welsh got hit with an early T for arguing calls. Struggling to get his shots to fall all night, we're going with this being his way of trying to get his guys fired up rather than just his frustrations getting the best of him because, by the 10-minute mark, the Cantaloupe had taken the lead. High Hill wasn't going away easy though, mounting a comeback of their own to pull ahead in the late stages. Now down one with less than a minute to go, Haad decided to officially introduce himself to the Cantaloupe faithful, prodding the High Hill zone, and finding Chris with a beautiful pass, setting him up for a wide-open layup down low to retake the lead one last time. A couple of empty trips later and the Cantaloupe officially closed the yearbook on the High Hill Alumni.
We already touched on Haad's big night as he stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, and a steal, but he wasn't the only one playing a big role. While we mentioned Nick's struggles from the field, shooting just 1-6 and finishing with 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal, the other half of the Welsh Bros was filling it up as Ryan poured in an efficient 24 points on 50% shooting. He also tacked on 4 boards, 1 assist, and a steal to go with, but the real unsung heroes in this were Ryan M and Merril who absolutely cleaned up the glass. Ryan M led the team with 7 rebounds followed closely by Merrill with 6 of his own. The duo combined for 1 point, 2 assists, and a block. Chris turned in a classic well-rounded line of 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and a block while player-coach Sean was focused on bringing the grit, taking a huge charge to slow down High Hill's center while contributing a couple of assists, 3 rebounds, and a block of his own.
Week 3 see's the Cantaloupe take on the Wave Birds who should be coming in fresh after having off last week on account of the holiday. The Birds pulled off a 50-40 win in their first game taking down the still 0-1 Blueberry Capitals. Sadly, fans will still be eagerly awaiting the debut of Rob Cox as he has officially been ruled out of tonight's matchup, but you can catch the rest of Cantaloupe back in action tonight on Total Turf Court #1 @ 9:55 pm.
Written by: Jonathan Abbott