Hot Shooting Propels Cantaloupe Back to .500

The Fighting Cantaloupe are back ladies and gentlemen, and I know we missed a week, but we’re not going to talk about week 1 because the Cantaloupe choked a dub and that makes me sad. What we are going to talk about is the absolute nail-biter that took place Tuesday night between the Cantaloupe and Revolution Camp, and boy did this one come down to the wire. The new-look Cantaloupe came out strong with first-year players Jordan and Merrill gaining an immediate edge in the paint and smothering the boards, but some slick shooting by Revolution Camp kept things close throughout the first half. Nice ball movement helped the Cantaloupe gain a slight edge as Nick was knocking down open shots all night, but any run the ‘loupe went on was met with an immediate answer as Revolution Camp just kept shooting.

The Second half was more of the same until Revolution Camp started to really get hot from beyond the arc and jumped out to a late lead. Now trailing by close to double digits with just over 5 minutes remaining, Coach O’Neill and the Cantaloupe turned to long-time G/F Nick Welsh who had a career night from three, knocking down shot after shot as he clawed the Cantaloupe back into the game. Tied at 46 with under a minute remaining, Revolution Camp's best player came down the court, and with an Iverson-esq crossover drained a pull-up jumper to put them up 2 with just 29 seconds left on the clock. The Cantaloupe weren’t done yet though, after a foul on the ensuing possession, Merill headed to the line with a chance to tie things up. Fans held their breath as they watched the first shot go up, but as it clanged off of the rim, things were looking bleak. Merrill went on to miss the second shot as well but first-year guard John Palumbo came down with a massive offensive board that gave the Cantaloupe one last chance as they kicked it out to Welsh for the last shot. Face guarded behind the three-point line, but it didn’t matter. Everyone in the gym knew that shot was going up, and as soon as it left his hands, we all knew that the Cantaloupe were re-taking the lead. As the ball fell threw the hoop and the Cantaloupe went up one, the clock was nearing double zero but Revolution Camp had just enough time for one last push. Their guard brought the ball up the court and with a little shake suddenly had a clear lane to the hoop. He managed to get off an awkward layup, but as the final buzzer sounded the ball bounced off the rim and hit the floor securing the Cantaloupe's first win of the Fall Season.

Looking at the stats, Nick was undoubtedly the player of the game so we might as well start there. One year removed from an atrocious season of shooting, it seems Nick has finally rediscovered his shot as he followed up a strong week 1 performance by pouring in a career-high 29 points on 11/19 shooting from the floor and 7/11 from beyond the arc. Welsh also brought down 4 rebounds and dished out a couple of assists to Merrill who was the next leading scorer with 9 points and 5 boards of his own. There wasn’t a ton in way of points after that but Lou who was filling in was the team's next leading scorer with 5 as he knocked down a couple of clutch jumpers late after struggling to find his footing in the early going. After that was Jordan who only managed 4 points and 2 assists on 2/3 shooting, but enough can not be said about the Cantaloupe rookie’s performance in the paint as he snatched a game-high 12 rebounds. Fellow first-year Cantaloupe John P also had a solid game, getting a couple of air balls out of the way early, Palumbo finished with 3 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and one lone rebound that proved to be the difference maker on the Cantaloupe’s final possession. Mikey G had a quiet day despite having the freshest kicks on the court, finishing with 2 points, 1 assist, and 3 boards while Chris brought his usual brand of hard-nosed defensive-minded basketball ending the night with 0 points, 0 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 block, and a steal.

We get our next glimpse of the new look Cantaloupe this Tuesday @ 9:30 pm as the ‘Loupe take on the 1-1 Rangers who enter this week coming off of a brutal 81-45 beatdown at the hands of Too Tough. The Cantaloupe have a slight edge in PPG avg 48-46.5. As always, we look forward to seeing a packed Fruit Basket, but if you’re out celebrating a Phillies dub, well...we understand.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

October 9th, 2022