Middleton rolls over Waunakee, wins regional title
WAUNAKEE — Carter Parks held a bag of ice on a nasty shiner he’d just acquired.
Parker Klein limped off the floor with a slight ankle injury after emerging from a scrum.
Jackson Guerrero, Luke Sheehan and Joey Passaglia — all standout football players — wound up on the hardwood floor almost as often as they were tackled last fall.
What began as a boys basketball game at Waunakee last Saturday turned into a knockdown, drag out, football-like affair. And Middleton proved it can excel under any conditions.
The Cardinals rolled past host Waunakee, 70-50, in a WIAA Division 1 regional final that was arguably their most physical contest of the year. Middleton, which prides itself on speed, athleticism and skill, showed it can hold its own in the trenches, as well.
“We knew how physical they were going to try to play the game,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of Waunakee. “And we just told them that they've kind of owned the Badger (Conference) for a long time. We see that stuff every night (in the Big Eight), and that we were really going to be the intimidators. They were going to find out that we don't back down from anybody.”
Parks, who wore his badge of honor on his right eye, agreed with Bavery.
“I think we did really good against their aggressiveness and strength, especially because I think like four of their big guys were football players,” Parks said. “They really got into us, but we held our ground and pushed back harder.”
Middleton, the No. 5 seed, improved to 22-4 and will now face top-seeded Madison Memorial (24-2) in a sectional semifinal Thursday at 7 p.m. at DeForest High School. If the Cardinals win there, the sectional final would be Saturday at Sun Prairie West against either second seeded Beloit Memorial or third-seeded Verona.
The Cardinals won their third regional title in five seasons, but are looking for their first trip to a sectional final since the 2009-10 season. Middleton is also gunning for its sixth trip to state in school history, and its first since Hall of Fame coach John Boyle guided the Cardinals to the 1998 state championship game.
“It was amazing taking pictures of my family with the (regional championship) plaque and everything,” said gifted freshman forward Parker Klein. “Yeah, it was amazing. It's just really a great, great moment to just share with the boys.”
The Cardinals had several memorable moments — and heroes — in handing the fourth-seeded Warriors (19-7) their third-largest loss of the season. They included:
• Klein, who scored a career-high 15 points and tied for team scoring honors. Klein had 12 of those points in a 6 1/2 -minute second half window when the Cardinals pushed their lead from 45-34 to 66-46.
“I would say coaches always talk about linear growth,” Klein said. “There are obviously downs, but right now we're up as a team and I'm up too.”
• Guerrero, the Big Eight Conference’s Player of the Year proved why he received the league’s highest honor. Guerrero knocked down five 3-pointers, tied Klein with a team-best 15 points, and defended with vigor throughout.
• Sheehan, the Cardinals’ do-everything senior forward, had 13 points and showed off his all-around skills with two enormous second half 3-pointers that kept Waunakee at bay.
“Luke was fantastic,” Bavery said. “He can shoot those and he proved it.”
• Parks, Middleton’s burly 6-foot-4 sophomore post, pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds and set the tone for the Cardinals’ physicality.
“Carter had an amazing game,” Bavery said. “A lot of times he goes up with one hand and comes down with the ball. He’s just so strong. He was a man child.”
Waunakee held a size advantage, but Parks and his teammates proved they were every bit as strong — if not more so — than the ultra-physical Warriors.
“I like games like that,” Parks said. “I think those are better than the normal, like, not as physical games. I’d rather play in a game like that than have ticky tack stuff always called.”
• Senior guard Andrew Qastin and sophomore guard Cormac Carlson — this duo made life tough for Waunakee sophomore point guard Jacob Muniz. While Muniz finished with 15 points, Carlson and Qastin had fantastic on-the-ball pressure throughout, making it extremely tough for the Warriors to get their offense started.
“They were getting all over him all game,” Guerrero said of Carlson and Caston hounding Muniz. “With our conditioning, we kind of wore them down and just took away a lot of what they wanted to do.”
Middleton’s defensive prowess helped limit Waunakee to 34.0% shooting (16-of-47). The Cardinals also forced 19 turnovers, including 10 in the first 9 ½ minutes.
“This is probably our best start to finish pressure, maybe our best defensive effort of the year,” Bavery said. “It’s been a while since we've been able to sustain that level, but we did tonight.”
Middleton was terrific from the jump, racing to a 7-0 lead after just 1 minute, 55 seconds and never trailing. Sheehan had a steal and layup to open the scoring, senior guard John Grimes had a fast break layup, and Guerrero buried a deep 3-pointer from the left wing.
On the other end, Waunakee turned the ball over on four of its first six possessions as the Cardinals made an early statement.
“They might not have seen that much pressure in the past,” Guerrero said. “It ended up working really well.”
Boy, did it ever.
The Warriors pulled within 7-5, but Middleton quickly countered with an 8-0 run to take a 15-5 lead midway through the half. Klein came off the bench and quickly buried a 3-pointer, Parks had a rebound basket and Grimes knocked down a triple.
The Cardinals showed no quarter, either, pushing their lead to 31-15 after a traditional three-point play from Sheehan late in the half. The heady Carlson made a terrific read, found Sheehan for a lay-up, and after he was fouled by Waunakee’s Wes DuCharme (team-high 21 points), he knocked down the free throw.
Waunakee closed within 31-19 by the break, but the first half was all Cardinals — especially defensively. Middleton held Waunakee to 29.4% shooting in the half (5-of-17) and the Warriors had more than twice as many turnovers (12) as field goals.
“We've been doing this all season, like speeding people up and making people uncomfortable,” Guerrero said. “So yeah, it really worked against this team.”
And it worked throughout the second half, as well.
The Warriors scored the opening basket of the second half and pulled within 31-21, but never came any closer.
Waunakee tried mixing in a full court press and a zone defense, but the Cardinals shredded both and used an 8-0 blitz to take a 45-26 lead with 12:20 remaining. Parks started that run with a pair of free throws, then Guerrero knifed his way through the Waunakee defense and assisted on consecutive 3-pointers.
On the first, Guerrero hit Qastin in the corner for a triple. Guerrero then drew two Warriors in his direction, found Sheehan alone at the top of the key, and the Cardinals’ versatile forward drained the triple to give MHS a 19-point lead.
“I knew that one was going in,” Bavery said of Sheehan’s triple. “Big shot.”
The Warriors answered with an 8-0 burst of their own and closed within 45-34. Then the Cardinals found an unlikely hero in Klein, a gifted, emerging young player whose ceiling could be as high as the Willis Tower.
First, Carlson found Klein for a corner 3-pointer that pushed Middleton’s lead back to 48-34. Klein then corralled a Grimes miss and scored to make it 50-34 with 8:45 left.
After a Waunakee turnover, Parks showed off his unique athleticism with a nifty, reverse lay-up. Klein then grabbed a Parks miss and scored to make it 54-34 with 7:45 remaining.
In a matter of just 100 seconds, Klein poured in seven points to spark a 9-0 Middleton burst that put the Cardinals in firm control.
“I heard my name called on the bench, went in, and wanted to go give my team the best effort that I could,” Klein said. “I just wanted to finish it for the boys, especially the seniors, really wanted to give them a game to remember and keep the run going.”
Klein’s rise from bit player back in November to one of the Cardinals’ best players in a regional final is one of the more stunning developments of this special season.
“It's hard with sophomores, let alone freshmen,” Bavery said of younger players contributing. “We started him with JV to get confidence, and then it was a slow transition. But he asserted himself right away and he just keeps getting better and better. It’s really exciting.”
Klein wasn’t done either.
After Waunakee crept back within 59-46, Klein had five points in another 7-0 Middleton run that officially ended things. Klein battled for a rebound, then made a nifty lay-up in which his shot had some English on it. Klein then had a reverse lay-up after Carlson found him in transition to make it 66-46.
“The big thing (assistant) coach (Tim) Simon always tells me is rebound, rebound, rebound, and I did that today,” said Klein, who finished with six rebounds. “I took pride in that they have some big guys, so I didn't let that intimidate me. And I kept going for the rebounds, put them back up. And once I saw that first one actually go in, I knew it was time for a run and time to close it out.”
Middleton finished with a 36-27 rebounding advantage and had just 11 turnovers. The Cardinals also buried 13 3-pointers, including five by Guerrero and two from both Klein and Sheehan.
Reserve guard Aaron Gepner then put the exclamation point on this terrific performance when he drained a deep 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.
Moments later, the Cardinals were embracing their friends and family, snapping pictures and celebrating at center court.
“I think we just made that statement that, yeah, we're not messing around,” Bavery said. “We had answers, whatever we needed on both ends of the court. It was a heck of an effort.”
March 7
WIAA regional final
Middleton 70, Waunakee 50
Middleton…………...31 39 – 70
Craig …………..…. 19 31 – 50
MIDDLETON — Jackson Guerrero 5 0-0 15, Luke Sheehan 5 1-1 13, Andrew Qastin 1 3-4 6, John Grimes 3 0-0 7, Carter Parks 4 2-2 11, Parker Klein 6 1-2 15, Aaron Gepner 1 0-0 3, Totals 24 7-10 70.
WAUNAKEE — Wes DuCharme 6 6-6 21, Jacob Muniz 4 5-5 15, Owen Wagner 1 0-2 2, Gavin Selk 2 1-1 5, Sam Follen 1 0-0 2, Ryan Lutz 1 0-0 2, Jake Ubersox 1 0-0 3. Totals 16-47 12-14 50.
3-point goals — M 13 (Guerrero 5, Klein 2, Sheehan 2, Qastin, Parks, Grimes, Gepner); W 6 (DuCharme 3, Muniz 2, Ubersox). Technical foul — Guerrero.
