Sports

Less than a month ago, Middleton’s boys basketball team was winless.

Five games, five losses.

The Cardinals were playing without star 7-footer Will Garlock, though, who was sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered last spring.

Despite the slow start, MHS’ confidence remained unaffected. They knew once Garlock returned, they could get on a roll.

Fast forward to Jan. 9 and the Cardinals showed they are on that roll.

Garlock, playing in his third game since returning on Jan. 4, scored 19 points, but four others chipped in with double figures. The result was an 88-74 Middleton win over Sun Prairie East, the fifth-ranked team in Division 1 according to the WisSports.net coaches poll.

The only thing Middleton’s boys basketball team found attractive was the scoreboard.

But that was absolutely fine for the Cardinals.

Middleton struggled offensively, but shined on defense and downed host Janesville Craig, 48-36, on Jan. 7.

Middleton won its fourth straight game, improving to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big Eight Conference.

“Coach Jerry Raffel used to always say. ‘if you go to Beloit or Janesville on a school night and come back with a win it's a good night,’ ” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of former assistant coach Jerry Raffel. “I have always agreed.”

Junior guard Jackson Guerrero led the Cardinals with 11 points, while senior forward Drew Cooney added nine points and five rebounds. Junior guards John Grimes and Andrew Qastin both had seven points, while senior forward Riley Kann had four steals.

Senior post Will Garlock, who was limited to 18 minutes in his return from an ankle injury, had two points.

Middleton’s boys wrestling team finished in seventh place at the 22-team Sauk Prairie Invite last Saturday.

Seymour won the event with 275.0 points, while Oconomowoc was second (185.0). Mauston (162.0), Beaver Dam (161.0) and Sparta (153.5) rounded out the top five.

Middleton finished with 132.0 points.

Sam Zanton finished first at 157 points for Middleton, while Reed Falk (190) and Finn Grauwels (165) were both third.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ day.

120 — Lucian Borseth (4-10) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Pearce Mathison (Sparta) 20-10 won by fall over Borseth (Fall 1:12)
• Cons. Round 1 - Borseth received a bye
• Cons. Round 2 - Ben Reis (River Valley) 15-12 won by fall over Borseth  (Fall 2:07)

132 — Grady Hargrove (16-7) placed 6th and scored 14.0 team points.

Middleton’s boys swimming and diving team is more halfway through its season.

And the two-time defending state champion Cardinals should be thrilled with how things have gone.

Middleton — which is unbeaten in both invitationals and dual meets — improved to 4-0 in the Big Eight Conference with a 121-45 win at Sun Prairie East on Jan. 10.

Middleton won all three relays and took first in seven of the eight individual races.

“With the end of the season quickly approaching, we made sure to capitalize on every race we could participate in,” Middleton coach Wes Lagerhausen said. “Luckily Sun Prairie was kind enough to let us put extra entries into the JV heats. This helps me make decisions of who should swim what and in what meet at the end of the season.”

Middleton’s Espen Morner won the 200-yard freestyle, while Evan Myers was third. Sam Wolf, Morgan Dorsey and Ben Freiberg went 1-2-3 in the 200-yard IM, and Wolf set a new pool record (1:53.94).

Middleton’s girls gymnastics team wasn’t at their best against Madison East/La Follette on Jan. 9.

The Cardinals were good enough, though, to emerge with a 129.125-121.20 win.

“This is usually the point in the season where the girls are feeling sick and worn down,” MHS coach Alexis Cairo said. “This competition definitely was not our best, however, I am so incredibly proud of my girls for going out there and giving it their best.”

Middleton’s Aspen Goth won the all-around competition with a 34.60, while Abby Arnold was third (32.550) and Anja Schmidt-Voils was fourth (30.7750).

Goth was first on the vault (8.550), while Arnold was third (8.20), Ana Bollig was fifth (8.0) and Schmidt-Voils was sixth (7.950).

Goth also won the floor exercise (8.975), while Arnold was third (8.40), Schmidt-Voils was fourth (7.950) and Audrey Thomas was seventh (7.0)

Middleton’s girls basketball team rolled past Janesville Parker, 54-40, on Jan. 10.

The Cardinals improved to 5-9 overall and 4-5 in the Big Eight Conference. Parker fell to 1-12, 0-8.

Rowan Borne led Middleton with 17 points, seven steals and five rebounds, while Emily Utter had nine points and three steals. Hailey Stroede had eight points and five rebounds, while Macey Blazek had seven rebounds, four points and three steals.

Brooke Michelotti added six points, five rebounds and two steals, while Lucy Drye had four steals.

Middleton finished with a season-high 20 steals.

• On deck: Middleton was at Madison Memorial Tuesday, then faces Madison La Follette Saturday at 11 a.m. at Sun Prairie West High School.

Middleton’s hockey team had a rough week, dropping all three of its games.

The good news for the Cardinals is they were all non-conference contests, meaning Middleton still leads the Big Eight Conference.

Madison Edgewood defeated the Cardinals, 10-3, on Jan. 7. Green Bay Notre Dame then defeated Middleton, 4-1, on Jan. 10 at Marathon County Ice Arena, and Wausau West edged the Cardinals, 5-4, at Marathon County Ice Arena on Jan. 11.

Middleton fell to 10-7 overall, but is a perfect 7-0 in the league — one game ahead of Verona (8-1) in the loss column.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals week.

• Madison Edgewood 10, Middleton 3 — Edgewood raced to leads of 4-0 and 10-1 and was in control throughout.

Wyatt Ehrhardt, Everett Lamp and Thomas Sutcliffe all had goals for MHS.

• Notre Dame 4, Middleton 1 — The Tritons scored four second period goals and rolled past the Cardinals last Friday.

OAK CREEK — Just 90 seconds had elapsed from Middleton’s boys basketball game at Oak Creek last Saturday.

Cardinals 7-foot senior center Will Garlock — who was playing his first game following offseason ankle surgery — spun baseline and threw home a monster dunk over two much smaller Knights.

Garlock was called for traveling on the play, but the tone had been set.

And when someone from the crowd yelled, “He’s back”, they were spot on.

Garlock was indeed back, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds in just 16 minutes to power Middleton to an impressive 63-55 win.

The Cardinals, who were 2-5 without Garlock, are now 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big Eight Conference. Oak Creek, which was off to a terrific start, fell to 6-2.

OAK CREEK — Rashard Griffith was befuddled.

Middleton’s girls basketball coach had watched his team play a terrific final 9 minutes in their game at Oak Creek last Saturday. The problem is the Cardinals did very little right the first 27 minutes.

The result was a 52-38 setback that left Griffith wondering how he could get his team to play with the consistency they showed down the stretch.

“I’m trying to figure that out,” Griffith said afterwards. “I just talked to them about it. It’s not like they can’t do it. It’s not that they aren't a good team. But we came out slow, we came out sluggish. I told ‘em it’s like you’re all still at home in your bed asleep. .

“Because we came out slow and dug a hole for ourselves, that’s what happened. And we couldn’t get out of it.”

Middleton fell to 4-9 overall and is 3-5 in the Big Eight Conference. Oak Creek improved to 4-5.

Middleton’s hockey team stayed atop the Big Eight Conference with a 6-1 win over Madison Memorial last Saturday.

The Cardinals improved to 7-0 in the conference and are 10-4 overall.

Michael Garbuz led the Cardinals with two goals and an assist against the Spartans, while Patrick Passini had a goal and two assists.

Thomas Sutcliffe, Kaden Ruedebusch and Luke Strasia all had goals for the Cardinals, as well. Wyatt Ehrhardt, Everett Lamp, Taylor Park and Matt Sanger all added assists.

Heuer Stutz had 17 saves in goal and picked up the win.

Middleton scored the first six goals of the game and was never challenged.