The Butler v 'Stache Rivalry Continues

The odds were stacked against our boys this week. With Pondo, Kevin, and Ryan D. all unavailable heading into a massive week 7 matchup with last year’s defending champs Team TBD the Cantaloupe had to come out with some fire if they wanted to have a chance in this one. Luckily, they did just that as the first half got off to a chippy start, both teams doing their fair share of jawing back and forth. A refreshing change of pace saw the Cantaloupe get off to a hot start from the field, knocking down shots but the high-powered offense of Team TBD was giving the Cantaloupe fits on defense. The two traded blows for most of the first half until one Team TBD guard single handedly delivered a 15-point swing as he proceeded to knock down 5 straight 3’s. With the momentum drastically shifted, the Cantaloupe managed to bounce back and cut into the lead a bit bringing it down to 8 to close out the half.

The second half was more of the same, a gritty back and forth that saw tensions continued to rise as the Cantaloupe were hanging in, even cutting the lead to 4 at one point but sadly this game would not have a storybook ending for the Fighting Cantaloupe. With tensions high and a few tough calls going in favor of Team TBD the Cantaloupe were visibly frustrated as it all boiled over leading to Chris Butler not only fouling out but also getting slapped with a technical by personal long time rival referee Moustache. By this point the team was becoming noticeably exhausted, the lack of depth on the bench playing a clear factor down the stretch as Team TBD blew this one open in the closing minutes winning 82-60 as they handed the Cantaloupe their third straight loss bringing them to 4-3 on the year.

The team played tough, but ultimately the box score showed more of the same this week, with only three players eclipsing the 5-point mark. The Welsh Bro’s were in sync tonight knocking down shots at a pretty high clip, Nick with 22 pts, 2 ast, and 6 reb, Ryan with 19 pts, 4 ast, and 8 reb. ‘Lemon Pepper’ Lou as some fans have begun calling him, continued his nice streak of games as he finished with 17 pts, 2 ast, and 5 reb. Chris Butler while only finishing with 2 points also still got his money’s worth hauling in 6 boards before getting bounced from this one. We caught up with Coach O’Neill after the game, and his outlook was much more positive than the last couple of weeks. They knew playing against the defending champs while being down a few players was going to be tough, but they brought the energy and kept this one close for most of the game. He thinks it was a huge morale boost heading into the final matchup of the season and hopefully into playoffs after that.

So just how does the playoff picture look for the Cantaloupe? Well as it stands currently, the Fighting Cantaloupe are 5th in the conference standings with a huge Wednesday night matchup still to come. The 1st place, still undefeated, Coffee Us Up will be taking on 3 seeded Scull & Bones in a West Coast Prime time matchup tonight at 10pm. With some stats still not entered at the time of writing this, there’s no guarantees but the top 6 seeds while they may switch places will likely be consisting of the same teams heading into what is shaping up to be a dramatic final week of the regular season. Current 1 seed Coffee Us Up will be taking on current 6 seed Lou Sassesl while the current 3 seed Scull & Bones will be taking on the 4 seeded, We Never Practice. With all of that happening, the Cantaloupe will be taking on the 10th seeded Rimshots who currently sit with a record of 1-5-1. While 4 wins may be enough to sneak into the playoffs, 4 straight losses is a tough way to close out the year, so if you’re reading this fellas, do us all a favor and let’s end the regular season with a ‘W’. Week 8 tip-off set for 9 pm est.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

August 11, 2021