Cantaloupe Suffer First Loss of Summer

The Fighting Cantaloupe dropped their first game of the season this past Tuesday, falling to Certified Buckets 48-40. Offense was hard to come by early as Ryan once again carried the load through the opening ten minutes, scoring 9 of their first 11 points before Lou got on the board. Despite being mostly outsized in the paint, Chris was assertive in the early going coming down with a few contested rebounds and a monstrous block that sent the Cantaloupe crowd into a frenzy. Just over the halfway point of the first, Certified Buckets had a player show up late and boy was he ready to make up for lost time. Within seconds of checking in he was laying out full extension into the stands for a rebound and within minutes had racked up 2 fouls and a technical. The score was now even at 16 a piece with roughly 6 minutes left in the half and things were getting chippy. Certified Buckets new spark plug ignited their offense as they went on a quick 5-0 run but the Cantaloupe weren’t going away. 25-21 with just over two minutes to go and Certified Buckets found themselves at the line looking to convert a huge and-1 opportunity to steal some momentum going into halftime. The free throw missed but the Buckets retained possession after an offensive board. The Buckets spark plug called for the ball at the top of the key but instead watched a corner three brick off the side of the rim, to which he immediately demanded to know ‘what the f#$k’ his teammate was doing while Anthony was at the other end of the court sinking his only basket of the night to make it 23-25 at the half.

The tension before the beak only seemed to fuel the Buckets fire though as they came out smothering the Cantaloupe on defense to start the second. Kev hit a nice three at the 16:00 mark for the Cantaloupe's first bucket of the half, but the Certified Buckets were as advertised and things quickly got out of hand soon after. With size playing an obvious factor, despite a strong defensive effort, the Cantaloupe suddenly found themselves down 41-28 with just under 9 minutes remaining. When the Cantaloupe swung back to pull it within 7, Certified Buckets hit back harder quickly pushing the lead back up to double digits with about 5 minutes left. Though the Cantaloupe would cut the lead back down to single digits before the final buzzer, the closing minutes were not particularly close as the Cantaloupe were handed their first L of the summer.

Ryan lead the team in scoring with 16 points, but only managed 1 rebound, and 1 steal to go with it. Nick struggled to find his stroke going 0-5 from three but still found ways to make an impact, finishing with 8 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal. Kev had the next highest point total with 6 while notching a team high 5 boards to go with 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Lou and Mikey G struggled to find their rhythm a bit, both finishing with 4 points on 2/7 shooting from the floor. Lou added in 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal while Mikey G matched Kev’s team high 5 rebounds. Chris also matched the team high 5 boards, and while he only managed 2 points and an assist offensively, he was a huge part of the Cantaloupe’s defense coming up with a steal and 2 huge blocks while picking up Certified Buckets best player full-court for the majority of the second half. Anthony and Pendry combined for 2 points and 2 rebounds, and while Ryan Deal didn’t record any buckets, he was wheeling and dealing for the ‘loupe dishing out a season high 6 assists along with a couple of rebounds and a steal.

So overall, not the best game for the Cantaloupe, but nothing to hang their heads over. If anything, it was a great learning experience to realize the intensity they need to bring if they expect to stay in these types of games going forward. Luckily, they’ll get their chance this week as they take on the 3-2 Hold’Em Hillbillies tomorrow night. The Hillbillies took down Certified Buckets back in week one 46-43, but they enter this week coming off of a 59-41 loss to the Ballhogz who, for those keeping track, lost to the Cantaloupe 52-42 in week four. All in all, it looks to be a promising matchup as fans hope to see the Cantaloupe get back into the win column with only a few games left in the regular season. Tip-off is set for tomorrow night @ 6:30 pm.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

August 1, 2022