Sports

Kevin Bavery rarely gets angry.

Middleton’s boys basketball coach is widely regarded as one of the more even tempered and nicer guys in his business.

But after Madison East trimmed a 14-point lead to four points last Saturday and forced Bavery to call a timeout, the Cardinals’ boss was about as irritated as he can get.

“He wasn’t real happy,” Middleton senior guard Gavyn Hurley said.

Moments later, Bavery’s aggravation quickly turned to delight.

Middleton embarked on a remarkable 22-3 run, pushed its lead to 23 points and cruised to a 67-45 win.

Hurley led the Cardinals with 19 points — including 10 during that decisive run — seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior forward Owen Cooney added 12 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Will Comerford had 10 points, sophomore center Will Garlock had nine points and five rebounds and senior wing Kaden Fosdick had five points and six assists.

Middleton’s hockey team traveled 75 miles to Hartland Arrowhead Saturday night.

The Cardinals battled heavy snow and lousy roads just to get to Hartland.

And when the contest ended, the Cardinals probably wished they would have stayed home.

Arrowhead scored just 40 seconds into overtime and edged the Cardinals, 2-1. Middleton fell to 13-8 this season, while Arrowhead improved to 14-6.

“I thought that we played two of our best periods of the year against Arrowhead,” Middleton coach Dan Truehl said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

The Cardinals outshot the Warhawks, 43-18, but couldn’t convert their multiple chances.

“When you outshoot a team 43-18 you don’t expect to lose,” Truehl said. “We have to find a way to produce more grade ‘A’ opportunities and capitalize on them.”

MADISON — On a cold, bitter winter evening, Middleton didn’t waste any time heating up the host Madison La Follette gym last Friday evening.

The Cardinals scored the game’s first 17 points and never trailed en route to a 70-57 victory over Madison La Follette in a Big Eight Conference girls basketball game.

“It’s real beneficial to start out strong because sometimes we let teams come back,” Middleton senior forward Addy Gmur said. “So that dominance, in the beginning, helped us at the end of the game.”

The Cardinals were seeking revenge for a loss on their home court on Dec. 2, when the Lancers rebounded from a 20-point deficit to upend Middleton 65-58.

But despite a late La Follette rally, there wasn’t going to be a fantastic finish for the Lancers this time, only a satisfying victory for Middleton to help the Cardinals improve to 9-8 overall, including 9-5 in the Big Eight.

Middleton’s boys swimming and diving team has enjoyed an unforgettable season.

The Cardinals added another chapter to their terrific year last Saturday.

Middleton won its own invite, totaling 415.5 points and edging runner-up Stevenson (Ill.) 403. Madison West (324), Madison Memorial (315) and Sun Prairie East rounded out the top five at the 14-team invite.

“It was great to have schools from out of state and conference at the meet to have variety in competition before championship season,” Middleton coach Wes Lagerhausen said. “For the day we broke six meet records and two pool records.”

Middleton’s meet records included the following events:

• 200 Medley Relay — The foursome of Jack Madoch, Sam Wolf, Theo Wolf, Max Carter finished first in a time of 1:33.88.

• 200 Freestyle — Nick Chirafisi won the event in 1:41.84.

• 50 Freestyle — Jack Madoch finished first in 20.96 seconds.

Middleton’s wrestlers won two of three dual meets last week.

The Cardinals downed Madison La Follette, 48-30, on Jan. 24.

Middleton then defeated Monona Grove/McFarland, 39-36, and fell to Lodi, 72-0, at a triangular on Jan. 24.

Here’s how the Cardinals fared at each weight class:

MIDDLETON 39, MONONA GROVE/MCFARLAND 36

113: Kaleo Cardoso (MGE) over (MIDD) (For.)

120: Joe Cristoforo (MIDD) over (MGE) (For.)

126: Xavier Denman (MGE) over (MIDD) (For.)

132: Quran Dunne-Morgan (MGE) over Aiden Dowd (MIDD) (Dec 0-0)

138: Jaden Denman (MGE) over Sam Zanton (MIDD) (Inj. [time])

145: Finn Grauwels (MIDD) over Dominick Hyatt (MGE) (Fall 5:30)

152: Joel Karls (MGE) over (MIDD) (For.)

160: Corben Falk (MIDD) over (MGE) (For.)

170: Seth Bunn (MIDD) over (MGE) (For.)

182: Bryce Falk (MIDD) over Nick Gallagher (MGE) (Fall 0:59)

Middleton’s girls gymnastics team finished in sixth place in the 10-team White Division at the Madison Memorial Invite last Saturday.

Burlington/Badger won the invite with a team score of 129.850, while Middleton had a 124.850 score.

Middleton freshman Ana Bollig was ninth in the all-around competition with a 31.850 score, while freshman Eva Szczepanski was 10^th at 31.80.

Cardinals senior Lucy Hellenbrand was fifth on the balance beam with an 8.150, while Bollig and Szczepanski tied for eighth (8.10) and Kenavan Lindner was 25^th (7.10).

Szczepanski was ninth on the uneven bars (7.90), while Lindner was 10^th (7.850), freshman Abby Arnold was 15^th (7.50) and Bollig was 20^th (7.250).

Bollig was seventh on the vault (8.350), Szczepanski was 30^th (7.850), sophomore Aubrey Anderson was 35^th (7.70) and sophomore Jaelynn Kemp was 37^th (7.650).

Several Middleton High School athletes signed their national letters of intent Wednesday.

In front from left are:

• Gavin Hanson, who will play lacrosse at Carroll University.

• Alex Heuer, who will play volleyball at Cumberland University (Tenn.).

• Gus Wenning, who will play football at Valparaiso.

• Owen Halverson, who will play football at Northern Michigan.

• Joseph Cristoforo, who will run cross country and track at St. Norbert.

• Elizabeth Schwartz, who will run cross country at UW-La Crosse.

• Stephanie Kalscheuer, who will play soccer at Edgewood College.

In back (from left) are:

• Ben Heise, who will play volleyball at Carthage College.

• Kaden Fosdick, who will play volleyball at Purdue Fort Wayne (Ind.).

Middleton athletic director Jamie Sims believes the football coaching job at MHS is one of the best in Wisconsin.

“I’m probably biased,” Sims said. “But I think it’s one of the two or three best jobs in the state.”

We’ll soon find out if coaches feel the same way.

Former Middleton coach Jason Pertzborn resigned on Jan. 26 in the midst of a bullying incident inside his program. There’s an ongoing investigation into that incident by the Middleton Police Department and the Middleton Cross Plains School District.

Suddenly, Sims needs to find a new coach — and is optimistic he’ll draw a bevy of high-level candidates.

Sims said on Monday that the job will be posted by Feb. 3. Sims expects the job will stay posted for two weeks, then he expects to begin interviews in mid- to late-February.

Middleton High School football coach Jason Pertzborn resigned Thursday citing personal reasons. Pertzborn, who was also a Business Education teacher at MHS, resigned from that position, as well.

The Middleton-Cross Plains School Board unanimously approved both resignations.

Pertzborn had been placed on administrative leave last week following an incident of alleged harassment within the school’s football program. That incident of misconduct — which took place more than two weeks ago — is being investigated by the Middleton Police Department and the school district.

No arrests have been made at this time.

“We are investigating allegations regarding student-to-student conduct within our football program,” said Shannon Valladolid, district director of information and public relations.

In the long and storied history of Middleton’s boys basketball program, the Cardinals never had a team begin a season 15-0.

That all changed on Jan. 26.

Middleton rolled past host Sun Prairie East, 73-48, and improved its record to a perfect 15-0 for the first time in school history. The Cardinals also moved to 12-0 in the Big Eight Conference and maintained their four-game lead over three other teams in the race for the league title.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Middleton senior point guard Gavyn Hurley said.

Middleton had lots of fun against Sun Prairie East, which fell to 3-13, 2-12.

Hurley led Middleton with 16 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, while senior wing Kaden Fosdick added nine points, four rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Will Comerford had nine points and three assists, while senior forward Owen Cooney had eight points and four rebounds.