Do or Die Time for Cantaloupe Heading into Final Week of Regular Season

Jeez, we take one week off and everything goes to shit. The excitement fans had after the Hunt Club win has quickly turned to angst after last week's loss. Oh, you haven’t been following? Let’s bring everyone up to speed then, shall we? After handing the Hunt Club their only loss of the season to this point, the Cantaloupe followed up with a solid week 6 win over the Free Agent team. To be honest, though that was expected as the Free Agent squad is currently staring down the barrel of a winless season heading into week 8 with a record of 0-7. But hey, a win is a win and with a record of 4-2, the Cantaloupe, seemingly hitting their stride, found themselves right in the mix for playoffs.

That brings us to last week's debacle against the 3rd seeded Hornets. Not a bad game on paper, losing by a score of just 53-46, but the Cantaloupe really let one get away here. The team came out strong building a double-digit lead in the first. Anthony scored all 4 of his points in the opening minutes and shots seemed to be falling early on. That sadly would not last as the Cantaloupe just couldn’t stay out of their own way. Ryan, the team's leading scorer had one of his worst shooting performances of the season going just 2-12 from the floor as he failed to reach double-digit points for the first time all year. Meanwhile, fellow Welsh bro Nick did his best to pick up the slack leading the team with 12 points on 4-12 shooting. Sadly, his aggression on offense came at a price as he also led the team with 5 turnovers. Turnovers seemed to be a bit of a theme last week as the Cantaloupe finished with 13 total, but other notables from the week 7 loss included strong showings from Lou, Joey B, and Kev. Lou had a solid 10-point, 3 rebound night while Joey B once again left it all out there for a team he’s not technically on notching 9 points and 4 boards of his own. Kev on the other hand struggled to find his shot a bit but still had a huge impact, absolutely dominating the paint en route to a season-high 13 boards. That covers most of the stats but here are the team leaders from week 7:

Points: Nick (12), Lou (10), Joey B (9)

Rebounds: Kev (13), Ryan/Nick/Joey B (4)

Assists: Ryan (2), Lou (1)

Steals: Ryan (4), Lou (2), Nick/Chris/Joey B (1)

So what does a 4-3 record heading into the last week of the regular season mean exactly? Well, it means that playoffs start early because tomorrow’s game against the 8th seeded Ballers is a must-win. As it stands currently, the Hunt Club and Too Tuff are in. Both touting 6-1 records heading into week 8, they sit one game ahead of the Hornets and the Winded Warriors who also look to be a lock sitting at 5-2 with their only remaining games against the bottom two teams in the standings. From there it gets interesting. The last four spots are all occupied by teams with a record of 4-3. The current rankings have the Hold’Em Hillbillies at 5, one spot ahead of the Cantaloupe at 6 while the last two spots are held by the Out of Shape All-Stars and none other than the Cantaloupe's week 8 opponent, the Ballers. With that in mind, the Cantaloupe find themselves in a win and you’re in situation, but it’s not so simple for the other 4-3 teams.

The Hillbillies take on Derek Hits 3’s (3-4) and the Out of Shape All-Stars take on Big Al’s Ballers (3-4). If the underdogs can pull out a couple of wins we’d have 5 teams with a .500 record. The Hillbillies hold wins over the Ballers, Big Al’s squad, and the All-Stars so they should be in good shape regardless of what happens. The All-Stars hold a win over Derek Hits 3’s who don’t have any wins against opponents outside the bottom 4 which doesn’t bode well for their chances. The Ballers on the other hand have big wins over the Hornets, Derek Hits 3’s, and Big Al whose only notable win, unfortunately, came against the Cantaloupe in week 4. So with all of that being said, depending on how things shake out, the last few playoff spots after the winner of the Cantaloupe/Ballers matchup remain very much up for grabs.

Week 8 action is set to tip-off tomorrow night @ 8:30 at Total Turf Court #3. We look forward to seeing a packed house as the Cantaloupe look to end the regular season with a bang.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

May 23rd, 2022