Sports

Middleton senior point guard Gavyn Hurley was named first-team all-state by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association in Division 1.

Hurley was named the Big Eight Conference’s Player of the Year for a second straight season, as was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Hurley became the first player since Sun Prairie’s Nick Fuller (2012-2013) to win back-to-back Player of the Year honors.

“Not only was he first team, but he was the Player of the Year again,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of Hurley. “And that’s not anything you take lightly.

“He’s better in all phases of the game than he was last year. He’s arguably the best player I’ve ever coached — right up there with three or four other people. The league saw Gavyn that way. He clearly earned it.”

Pitching.

Hitting.

Experience.

Incoming talent.

On paper, Middleton’s softball team has it all.

Of course, games are played on the diamond. But when that happens, Middleton coach Brittany Carl expects her Cardinals to have a terrific year.

“This team is hungry,” said Carl, whose team begins its new season Thursday against Madison Memorial. “We have a fantastic mix of talent and personalities that really gels well together.

“We return so many (players) from last season that have markedly improved — that have grown both as individuals and as a unit. I can’t wait to see what this particular group can accomplish together in 2023.”

Kevin Bavery’s datebook read: “March 18: State title game — UW Kohl Center.”

And for most of the winter, it looked like Bavery and his Middleton’s boys basketball team would keep that commitment.

The Cardinals enjoyed a brilliant season that saw them set school records for wins (25), winning percentage (.926) and climb as high as No. 2 in the state rankings.

Instead of chasing a gold ball, though, last Saturday night, Bavery was on his treadmill watching DePere and Hartland Arrowhead compete for a state championship. And Bavery admitted it wasn’t easy.

“The hardest part of any season is simply when it ends,” said Bavery, whose team fell in the sectional semifinals to Milwaukee Hamilton. “And for basketball there is only one team in each division that doesn't have that happen with a loss.

The best team in the Big Eight Conference didn’t have the most first-team all-league players.

And they didn't have the most overall all-conference players, as you might expect.

But Middleton boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery did his best not to bemoan those facts.

“Some other coaches saw things a different way,” Bavery said. “That’s their prerogative.”

Despite some perceived snubs, Middleton did land three players on the all-Big Eight team.

Senior guard Gavyn Hurley was named first-team all-conference and was voted the Big Eight’s Player of the Year for a second straight season.

Sophomore center Will Garlock was named second-team all-league and senior wing Kaden Fosdick was named honorable-mention all-Big Eight. In addition, Bavery was named the league’s Coach of the Year.

Middleton’s track teams opened their seasons Saturday at the UW-Whitewater Invitational.

Middleton’s boys finished in fifth place out of 21 teams and the Cardinals’ girls were seventh out of 20 teams.

Mukwonago won the boys title with 73 points, while Oconomowoc (69), Sussex Hamilton (46.5), Brookfield East (45) and Middleton (32) rounded out the top five.

Mukwonago’s girls were also first with 88 points. Middleton’s girls finished with 25 points.

On the boys’ side, Middleton’s top finishes included:

• Junior Will Whiteis won the 3,200-meter run in 9 minutes, 47.79 seconds.

• Senior Finn Patenaude was second in the 55-meter hurdles (7.88 seconds).

• Senior Harper Fahey was second in the 1,600-meter run (4:35.49) and senior Dean Montour was third in the same event (4:35.64).

• Senior Cam Swapsy was sixth in the 400-meter run (55.10 seconds).

• Junior K.J. Peterson was sixth in the shot put (47-7).

And then there were two.

Middleton High School has narrowed its search for a new football coach to two individuals.

Those men are scheduled to meet with athletic director Jamie Sims, assistant A.D. Brad Crandall and principal Peg Shoemaker on March 22.

Sims said he was hopeful the panel would have a decision shortly thereafter.

Former Middleton coach Jason Pertzborn resigned in late-January in the wake of a bullying scandal inside his program. Pertzborn, a business education teacher at MHS, also stepped down from that position.

The Middleton football position was posted last month and Sims said there were 17 applicants. Of those, six were selected to meet with a 14-person panel on March 13.

That panel included Sims, Crandall, a handful of current players and assistant coaches on Middleton’s football team, as well as two non-football coaches at MHS.

SUN PRAIRIE — Kevin Bavery, never short of words, couldn’t find the right ones this time around.

Stunned. Shocked. Shaken. Surprised.

They would have all been applicable last Thursday night.

Middleton’s boys basketball team, which enjoyed one of the finest years in school history,  saw their dream season die.

In a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal, sixth-seeded Milwaukee Hamilton outscored Middleton, 24-0, from 3-point land and had more key stops than the second-seeded Cardinals. The result was the underdog Wildcats edged Middleton, 64-61, in a game played at Sun Prairie East High School.

“It was going to end at some point,” said Bavery, Middleton’s veteran coach. “We just didn’t think it was going to be tonight. We felt good. We felt ready.”

Ken Burghy is a Middleton legend.

He’s one of the top soccer coaches in state history.

He’s arguably the best coach — regardless of sport — in the history of MHS.

So it’s only fitting — and perhaps overdue — that Firefighter’s Park Soccer Stadium will soon be named Burghy Soccer Stadium.

The idea was formed by a handful of MHS soccer coaches and community members and presented to athletic director Jamie Sims earlier this year. Sims then took the idea to the Middleton-Cross Plains School Board, and they approved the move at a recent meeting.

“This is in honor of all coaches and student-athletes who have taught and played as members of the Middleton Cardinal Soccer Program,” said Burghy, who’s now retired and living in Florida.

Burghy, who coached Middleton’s boys and girls teams, compiled 715 career wins between the two programs. That’s believed to be a state record.

Middleton’s boys basketball team enjoyed a season they’ll likely still be talking about decades from now.

The Cardinals set a new school record with 25 wins. Middleton’s 25-2 record gave it a school record .926 winning percentage.

The Cardinals got off to the best start in school history, beginning the year 17-0. And Middleton won the Big Eight Conference with a 19-1 record. That .950 winning percentage in conference was the best by a Big Eight team since Madison Memorial was 18-0 11 years earlier.

Middleton’s year ended in heartbreak after the Cardinals dropped a 64-61 decision to Milwaukee Hamilton in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal game on March 9. But the memorable moments will last for years.

Here’s a game by game recap from one of the best seasons in Middleton history.

GAME 1

Middleton 71, Madison Memorial 64

Dave Miller says he did nothing more than hug his granddaughter.

Middleton athletic director Jamie Sims says, “There’s more to it than that.”

What is certain is Middleton’s wrestling program no longer has one of the top assistant coaches in the state.

Sims recently fired Miller from that role, a move that sent shockwaves through the MHS program and across the state.

Shannon Valladolid, the Director of Information and Public Relations for the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, declined comment on Miller’s firing saying it was a confidential personnel matter.

MCPASD superintendent Dana Monogue did not return a call seeking comment.

Miller was saddened and shocked by the firing.