Sports

They've toppled the teams at the bottom of the conference.

It's the ones at the top that have given Middleton’s girls basketball team trouble.

The Cardinals dug themselves an 11-0 hole last Friday and couldn't escape in what became a 59-42 loss to Janesville Craig.

The Cougars improved to 5-1 in the Big Eight Conference and sit atop the league with Sun Prairie. Middleton is tied for third place in the conference at 4-2 and is 4-3 overall.

“We had a couple stretches during the game that hurt us,” Middleton coach Jeff Kind said. “But we did show some good signs.”

The Cougars showed more, though, which is why they’re in first place.

“I think what I’m most pleased with tonight was the poise that our girls showed,” Craig coach Kerry Storbakken said. “They knew that Middleton was a good team and was going to make their runs, but our girls never panicked.”

Middleton’s hockey team had a sensational week, rolling to a pair of Big Eight Conference wins.

The Cardinals defeated Beloit Memorial, 11-0, on Dec. 14 and downed Madison West, 8-1, last Saturday. Middleton is now 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

Eight different Cardinals scored in their rout of Beloit Memorial.

Brady Engelkes, Daniel Shulla and Garrett Ballweg both had a pair of goals, while Wyatt Ehrhardt, Ethan Lam, Cam Semrad, Eli Kinne and Vince Kalscheur all tallied goals, as well.

Ehrhardt added three assists and finished with a team-high four points, while Ryan Inman and Brendan Julius both had two assists.

Cam Haynes had 12 saves and notched the shutout for Middleton.

The Cardinals then cruised past Madison West.

Inman led the way with two goals, while Lam had a goal and two assists. Alexander Moreau, Hayden Wimmer, Avery Passini, Kalscheur and Julius all added goals, as well.

Unacceptable

That’s what Middleton boys swimming coach R.J. Leiferman called the Cardinals’ performance against Madison West last Friday.

The Cardinals won five of the 11 events, but West’s depth helped it roll to a 106-64 win. It was Middleton’s first Big Eight Conference loss of the year.

Middleton’s Nick Chirafisi won the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Jack Madoch won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, while Theo Wolf won the 100 backstroke.

But the Cardinals couldn't get much else accomplished.

“Our performance vs. Madison West was completely unacceptable,” Leiferman said. “We have to be better in the future.”

Middleton was much better the following day when it finished second at the 11-team Beloit Invite.

Verona-Mount Horeb was first with 657 points, while the Cardinals were second at 633. Badger (449), Beloit Memorial (287) and Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (287) rounded out the top five.

They’re just four games into their young season, but folks are already noticing.

One coach in the same sectional with Middleton’s boys basketball team predicted the Cardinals will be the No. 1 seed come February. Another voted Middleton No. 3 in the latest Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association state poll.

And why not?

The Cardinals are off to a 4-0 start — with all victories inside the Big Eight Conference — following another big week.

Middleton toppled Madison East, 64-59, on Dec. 7. The Cardinals then went to Madison West and stymied the Regents, 51-35, last Friday.

“We’re much better defensively than we are offensively,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “But the offense is brand new, so well learn nuances as we go. I just like the early vibe.

“The mentality of the team is the only thing that matters, and all they care about is that we’ve got four wins. We’re 1-0 four times. That’s their mindset.”

The Middleton-Cross Plains and Madison West communities lost three bright lights on Oct. 2 with the tragic passing of senior student-athletes Jack Miller, Evan Kratochwill and Simon Bilessi.

Miller and Kratochwill attended Middleton High School, while Bilessi, who previously attended Middleton, was a student-athlete at Madison West High School.

Kratochwill ran cross country at Middleton and Bilessi played soccer at Madison West, while Jack Miller played soccer at Middleton and was planning to try out for the varsity hockey team his senior year.

To honor Miller as well as Kratochwill and Bilessi, Middleton’s Big Eight Conference varsity hockey game against Madison West on Saturday has been designated as a ‘We Skate for Jack’ game with a pregame ceremony preceding a 3 p.m. start at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton.

VERONA — The Big Eight Conference’s girls basketball race is going to be a wild one this winter.

A handful of teams could win the title. And it wouldn't come as a surprise if the eventual champion had three or four league losses.

So while Middleton was certainly disappointed with its 61-34 setback at Verona last Saturday, the Cardinals also understood the big picture.

Despite the loss, Middleton, Janesville Craig and Madison La Follette are all tied atop the conference with 4-1 records. Sun Prairie was just ½-game off the lead at 3-2, while Verona and Madison Memorial were one game back at 3-2.

“It’s a measuring stick,” Middleton coach Jeff Kind said. “We didn't play very well, but they’re a really good team.

“Overall, I think we’re making some progress. We knew coming into the season that we have a long way to go, but I think there’s still some places we can improve a lot.”

Middleton’s hockey team has faced a brutal schedule to start the year.

But after a week where the Cardinals earned an impressive split, they were feeling OK about the direction they’re headed.

Middleton defeated Sun Prairie, 5-3, on Dec. 7, then fell to state power Verona, 6-3, two nights later.

Middleton is now 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big Eight Conference.

“Overall, it was a good week for our guys,” Cardinals head coach Dan Truehl said. “We played well in both games and proved to ourselves that we can play with the best in the area and state.

“We still need to learn how to win close games. With younger teams this isn’t uncommon, but being on the right side of a hard fought, close game would go a long way.”

Middleton earned an impressive win over Sun Prairie, as Vince Kalscheur notched three goals in a 20-minute window to lift his team to victory.

Middleton’s hockey team has faced a brutal schedule to start the year.

But after a week where the Cardinals earned an impressive split, they were feeling OK about the direction they’re headed.

Middleton defeated Sun Prairie, 5-3, on Dec. 7, then fell to state power Verona, 6-3, two nights later.

Middleton is now 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big Eight Conference.

“Overall, it was a good week for our guys,” Cardinals head coach Dan Truehl said. “We played well in both games and proved to ourselves that we can play with the best in the area and state.

“We still need to learn how to win close games. With younger teams this isn’t uncommon, but being on the right side of a hard fought, close game would go a long way.”

Middleton earned an impressive win over Sun Prairie, as Vince Kalscheur notched three goals in a 20-minute window to lift his team to victory.

Middleton’s boys swimming team won the prestigious Barracuda Invite held at Brookfield Central High School last Saturday.

The Cardinals finished with 642.5 points to edge Madison Memorial (637.50) at the seven-team invite. The Brookfield Barracudas were a distant third at 480.

“The boys were definitely better than last week, and swam more consistently in their events, even after a very tough week of practice,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said. 

Middleton’s quartet of Jack Madoch, Blaise Lin, Jack Madigan and Nick Chirafisi won the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Cardinals’ foursome of Theo Wolf, Cowan Vitense, Chirafisi and Madoch won the 400-yard freestyle relay.

And Middleton’s 200-yard medley relay team of Wolf, Noah Dorn, Vitense and Blaise Lin was third.

“Both our 200 relays in the meet vs. Memorial pulled out very close comeback wins which was very exciting to watch,” Leiferman said. 

MADISON – It didn’t take long for Middleton to take control of its Big Eight Conference matchup with rival Madison Memorial last Saturday night.

Senior guard TJ Bauer drained an early three-pointer to stake Middleton to a lead it would never relinquish on the way to an impressive 68-50 victory over the host Spartans.

But it was the damage the visiting Cardinals unleashed on defense that proved to be the difference-maker.

“We just wanted to pressure the ball a lot. That was one of our main goals, make them turn it over,” said Middleton 6-foot-5 junior Gavyn Hurley, who led all scorers with 16 points and was credited with five steals. “We knew they couldn’t handle some pressure. That was the main goal, put some pressure on the ball.

“It was a great team win. We had balanced scoring, and everyone played hard on defense, too.”