Cantaloupe Stay Undefeated Through the Halfway Mark

The season has officially reached the halfway mark and the Fighting Cantaloupe still find themselves undefeated after a 60-29 win over the now 0-4 Trash Pandas. Despite the score things were ugly early on in this one for both teams. With Pondo being ruled out for the month earlier in the week and Kevin being a late scratch last night with a wrist injury the Cantaloupe were coming into this one noticeably shorthanded and it showed as neither team recorded a basket for the opening 3-4 mins of the game. Enter Anthony Butler.

The backup big man came off the bench to record the teams first basket and didn’t look back, flirting with a double-double and a career high in points but falling just short of both as he finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds. The Pandas weren’t going away though, the loud crowd seemingly in their favor had Total Turf rocking last night and the Cantaloupe’s struggles from beyond the 3-point line kept things close for most of the first half. That is until Lou showed up late and immediately proceeded to knock down a couple of 3’s to build a nice lead before the half. With the team somewhat reeling we were able to sneak into the huddle to see what was discussed. One Cantaloupe member who shall not be named claiming that “we’re too open, its messing us up.” Which was seemingly true as he finished the night 0/5 from beyond the arc and just 4/17 from the field.

Ryan Welsh wasn’t having that though, and after showing clear signs of frustration during the break he came out with a laser focus to start the second, and what a half it was for the team’s leading scorer. Welsh was the only Cantaloupe player to finish the game with double digit points leading the way with 21 while also notching 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Other notables included Tyler White recording his first points in a Cantaloupe uniform while providing the highlight of the night with a massive chase down block in what was again a strong defensive showing from the Cantaloupe. White did a little of everything, finishing with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

The second half of the season will get underway with a west coast primetime matchup as the undefeated Fighting Cantaloupe take on the also undefeated Coffee Us Up squad next Wednesday, July 28th @ 10pm. Coffee Us Up have been rolling through the first half of the season averaging 63 points a game and should be a big test for the Cantaloupe who at times have been relying on their defense to help set the pace of their games. With Pondo already ruled out, the only other player finding themselves on the injury report heading into week 5 is Kevin who is currently Questionable with a wrist injury. Given the magnitude of the matchup we’ll be monitoring Broeckers status closely throughout the week as his presence in the paint and tenacity on defense will play huge against one of the more high powered offenses in the league.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

July 22, 2021