Middleton routs Arrowhead, wins regional

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MTT News's picture
By: 
Rob Reischel
Middleton's boys basketball team was all smiles after winning a regional title last Saturday./Photo courtesy of Mary Bavery

TOWN OF MERTON — Kaden Fosdick wasn’t sure what his next move would be.

Middleton’s 6-foot-6 junior forward darted across the perimeter, then saw the lane open wide. Fosdick attacked the paint, gave a quick look to his left, took a hop step, then threw down a hammer dunk over Hartland Arrowhead’s Jace Gilbert.

It was the Cardinals’ first dunk of the season. It also put the exclamation point on a thrilling 60-40 Middleton win over the Warhawks in a WIAA Division 1 regional final last Saturday night.

“It was a great moment in life,” Fosdick said afterwards. “I was a little surprised. It’s been a while since I’ve had a hop step dunk, but it was awesome.”

The Cardinals were awesome, too.

Fifth-seeded Middleton held fourth-seeded Arrowhead to just 25.6% shooting (11-of-43) and a season-low point total. Just 24 hours earlier, the Cardinals held Wauwatosa East to their lowest scoring output this season.

Senior guard Nick Meinholz made 10-of-12 free throws and led the Cardinals with 18 points. Fosdick had 11 points, five rebounds and four steals, junior guard Gavyn Hurley added 13 points and five steals, and senior post Mike Roach had 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Cardinals improved to 17-9 and reached sectional play for the first time in five seasons. Middleton will now meet top-seeded Brookfield Central (21-5) in a sectional semifinal Thursday at 7 p.m. at Oconomowoc. The winner of that will play the Madison La Follette-Sun Prairie winner Saturday in the sectional finals.

As giddy as Middleton was about beating Arrowhead (19-7), the mere mention of Fosdick’s dunk sent the Cardinals into a frenzy.

“It blew my mind,” Roach said. “I was not expecting that. I looked up and I saw him in the sky.”

Meinholz agreed.

“I’ve seen him do that in practice,” Meinholz said. “I haven't seen him do it on somebody. That was huge.”

Middleton’s play was huge throughout, as it continued to operate without senior guard Logan Raffel (appendix), the team’s second-leading scorer.

While most anticipated a dogfight, Middleton led from start to finish. The Cardinals built a double-digit lead midway through the first half, pushed their advantage to 26 points in the second half and cruised home.

Middleton shot a sizzling 18-of-34 from the field (52.9%) and 20-of-27 from the line (74.1%). The Cardinals also stymied Arrowhead with their 1-3-1 zone defense and held the Warhawks 33.0 points below their season average.

“I just think it was pure grit,” Roach said of Middleton. “We really just went out there and we did what we wanted to do. We knew it was either our last 36 (minutes) or their last 36. So why not theirs.”

Roach and his pals made sure it was Arrowhead’s final game, dominating from the outset.

Middleton used a pair of big first half runs to take control.

First the Cardinals embarked on a 9-0 blitz and turned a 7-5 lead into 16-5 advantage. Roach and Hurley started the fun with lay-ups, them Fosdick drilled a 21-footer and a 7-footer as Middleton went ahead by 11 with 10:56 left in the half.

“The thing with Kaden, our expectations for him are so high,” Bavery said. “We probably ride him harder than anyone on the team. He’s got so much energy and we're just trying to wield it in, because when that happens, he’s tough to stop.”

The Cardinals then used a 10-1 spurt to push an 18-10 advantage to 28-11 with 3 minutes left in the half.

Senior center Easton Zempel started the run with a remarkably athletic tip-in, then Meinholz drove for a lay-up to make it 22-10. Will Comerford drilled a 25-foot 3-pointer, and after an Arrowhead free throw, Zempel had another rebound basket and Comerford made a free throw and Middleton’s lead was suddenly 17.

“One of the things we had on the board is we’re going to outplay everyone and play harder than everyone,” Fosdick said. “One of our main keys is to bring energy from the start. I feel like at the beginning of the game that’s when we’ve got to leave everything out there because a fast start can be huge for us.”

Meinholz agreed.

“Early hits — those were huge,” he said. “It definitely got my confidence up, definitely got the whole team’s confidence up. We just fed off each other’s energy and just kept it rolling.

“We know it’s win or go home. We’ve got to leave everything out there especially as a senior. It might be the last time you step on a court.”

The Cardinals went scoreless the final 3 minutes of the first half, though, and Arrowhead closed on a 6-0 run to pull within 28-17 at the break. Still, Middleton shot 12-of-24 from the floor in the first half (50.0%) and held the Warhawks to 22.7% shooting (5-of-22).

Fosdick had seven points and four steals for the Cardinals, while Arrowhead junior forward Max Wrecke — who led all scorers with 21 points — had 11 in the first half.

“We kind of gave them a little life at the end of the half,” Bavery said. “But I said, ‘we’d rather be up 11 than down 11.’ So yeah, we felt pretty good.”

They felt even better by the midway point of the second half.

Arrowhead was hanging around, and after a 25-foot 3-pointer by Wrecke, the Warhawks were within 38-28 with 9:20 left in the game. Over the next 2:20, though, Middleton delivered an 11-0 haymaker that pushed its lead to 49-28 and KO’d the Warhawks.

First, Roach got loose for a lay-up, then he drew a foul and made both free throws. Fosdick added a pair of free throws, and Hurley made the biggest play in the run when he scored, was fouled and drilled the free throw.

With 7 minutes left, Middleton’s lead had ballooned to 21 and some of the Arrowhead faithful began heading to the exits.

“We talked about it executing at halftime and putting them away,” Roach said. “We ran what we wanted to and we put ‘em away. It shows that we’re the better team.

“The start of the second half was huge. They had momentum going into halftime and we came out and we went on that run.”

Added Fosdick: “We have the athletes to do that. That stretch was really exciting.”

Middleton was into the double bonus with 8 minutes left and made 19-of-25 free throws in the second half (76.0%). The Cardinals stretched their lead to as many as 59-33 before Bavery emptied the bench with 3 minutes left.

“There’s a lot to be happy with,” Bavery said. “Our defense was outstanding. We’ve always been a man team, and it’s not just about personnel, it's about nuances.

“But I’ve always been a man to man guy, all the way back to my days at Oregon. And I think with the 1-3-1, what helps is we’ve got guys that can play multiple positions inside that.

“And then we just never flinched. When they made their run at us at the end of the first half and a little bit in the second half, we never let them get back too close.”

Now, it's off to sectionals as the Cardinals chase their first trip to state since 1998.

Bavery, who’s in his 16th season at Middleton, has led the Cardinals to five regional titles in that time. Middleton has been to two sectional finals under Bavery, but fell short both times.

The Cardinals’ veteran coach understands how precious these opportunities are — and how exciting this weekend could be. 

When Middleton and Brookfield Central met on Feb. 12 in Brookfield, the Cardinals led, 48-47, with 5 minutes left. The Lancers finished the game on an 18-7 run, though, and pulled away for a 65-55 win.

Bavery and the Cardinals are hoping their play in regionals leads to big things at sectionals.

“Just being back in that tournament atmosphere is just amazing,” Bavery said. “And when you get to sectionals, it ramps up to a whole new level. We’re going to be so excited for it, that’s for sure.”

 

 

March 5

Middleton 60, Arrowhead 40

Middleton …………..… 28 32 — 60

Arrowhead …. 17 23 — 40

MIDDLETON —Nick Meinholz 3 10-12 18, T.J. Bauer 0 0-0 0, Kaden Fosdick 4 2-2 11, Easton Zempel 2 0-0 4, Gavyn Hurley 4 2-3 10, Mike Roach 3 4-6 10, Will Comerford 1 1-2 4, Tanner Ballweg 1 0-0 2, Cameron Swapsy 0 1-2 1. Totals: 18 20-27 60.

ARROWHEAD (fg ft-fta pts) — Alex Kramer 0 2-2 2, Austin Villarreal 3 1-1 9, Max Wrecke 6 5-5 21, Jackson Raasch 1 1-3 3, Sam Leoni 1 2-3 5. Totals: 11 11-15 40.

3-point goals: Mid. 4 (Meinholz 2, Comerford 1, Fosdick); Arr 7 (Wrecke 4, Villarreal 2, Leoni).

 

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