Sports

They’ve been tested virtually every way possible.

They’re rallied from double digit deficits. They’ve held off charges from upstart opponents.

They’ve beat teams inside the top-10. They’ve blistered foes with more modest accomplishments.

But every test Middleton’s boys basketball team has been handed during this magical season has been aced.

The latest came last Saturday, when the Cardinals got a scare from visiting Hartland Arrowhead. The Warhawks rallied from a 16-point deficit and held a two-point lead with 2 minutes left, before Middleton battled back and notched an 81-78 win.

Middleton, ranked No. 2 in the latest wissports.net poll, improved to 14-0 overall. The Cardinals are also 10-0 in the Big Eight Conference and hold a two-game lead over Madison Memorial and Sun Prairie.

If there’s such a thing as the dog days of winter, Middleton’s girls basketball team is in the middle of them.

The Cardinals are in the midst of a 20-day stretch in which they won’t play a team with a winning record. And for three consecutive weeks, Middleton has just one game per week.

January doldrums? You bet.

But the Cardinals played well enough — for long enough — to post a 79-68 win over visiting Madison East last Saturday.

Middleton, ranked No. 2 in the latest wissports.net poll, improved to 13-2 overall. The Cardinals also moved to 11-0 in the Big Eight Conference and maintained a ½-game lead over Verona atop the league.

“For the most part, I thought we played pretty well,” Middleton coach Jeff Kind said. “We just have to learn how to finish. We’re not doing that right now.”

Middleton led by as many as 21 with 3 minutes left in the game. But East finished the game on a 12-2 run to make the final score more respectable.

For Kari Steck, it was a happy homecoming.

For Middleton’s girls gymnastics team, it was a day of growth, progress and perhaps some surprising results.

Middleton finished second at the Southwestern Invite last Saturday, despite missing four varsity performers due to a music trip and family events.

Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau won the event with a 135.6 team score, while Middleton posted its highest team score of the season and finished second at 135.425.

Holmen was third (130.875), Monona Grove was fourth (127.4) and Reedsburg was fifth (110.525).

“We were missing quite a few girls who are typically key players,” said Steck, a graduate of Southwestern High School. “However, the girls still pulled off their highest season score, which really speaks to the depth on the team this year. The girls continuously step up and support each other, and it shows.”

The slide is over.

And Middleton’s hockey team hopes it’s back on track.

The Cardinals rolled past Madison Memorial, 5-1, last Friday and snapped a three-game losing streak.

Middleton, ranked seventh in the latest Wisconsin Prep Hockey poll, improved to 16-3 overall. The Cardinals are also 9-2 in the Big Eight Conference and lead second place Verona (8-2) by ½-game for the conference lead.

“I think the biggest thing for us getting back on track was getting back to the little things that made us successful,” Middleton coach Steffon Walby said. “I never would’ve thought playing Memorial would have been our breakout game, but the little added fire that playing inner-conference teams can add certainly allowed us to succeed and get back to winning.”
Middleton jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period.

In many ways, this was the perfect scenario and the ideal outcome for Middleton’s girls basketball team.

Getting there, though, was anything but easy.

The Cardinals defeated visiting Janesville Parker, 84-74, in overtime last Friday.

Just six weeks earlier, the Cardinals routed the Vikings by 36 in Janesville, and some Middleton players admitted they thought the sequel might be similar to the original.

Instead, the Cardinals learned a valuable lesson about overlooking teams. The good news, though, is it didn’t cost them a game.

“I think we just kind of expected to show up and win the game, especially with how the first game went,” Middleton junior forward Carlee Lemirande said. “But we have to come into games acting like it’s the state championship.”

Middleton junior guard Alyssa Lemirande added: “I think we learned a lot tonight about not taking anybody lightly.”

The I-90 trip is often littered with road blocks and potholes. And it almost always contains two gifted opponents.

This year was no different. But Middleton’s boys basketball team is better equipped than any time in recent memory to handle such trouble.

Middleton traveled to Beloit Memorial last Thursday and Janesville Craig last Saturday and dismantled both Big Eight Conference foes.

The Cardinals rolled past the Purple Knights, 81-72, then toppled Craig, 73-63. Middleton improved to 12-0 overall and 9-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

Both Madison Memorial and Sun Prairie are two games behind Middleton at the midway point of the conference season.

“Any time you make the back-to-back trips to Beloit and Craig it’s a difficult turn around,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “I thought our guys learned some things in a competitive game Thursday and applied them on Saturday. Craig was our best overall effort to date.”

Their fast start is now a distant memory.

Today, Middleton’s hockey team is in survival mode.

The Cardinals raced to a 15-0 start this season. But the worm turned last week and Middleton lost three consecutive games.

The Cardinals fell to Janesville, 1-0, last Tuesday. Sun Prairie then defeated Middleton, 5-3, last Thursday.

Finally, Madison Edgewood toppled Middleton, 2-1, last Saturday.

“Thank goodness last week is over,” Middleton coach Steffon Walby said. “We took our lumps and all three games.

“We’re still in a good spot. We earned the right to have a tough week, but what it really comes right down to is we’ve got to get back to being cohesive as an overall unit.”

Janesville goalie Jack Bostedt made 39 saves, while Tyler Kulas had a power play goal in the second period.

Tony Wuesthofen had 22 saves for Middleton.

Madison Memorial and Madison West were the top two boys swimming teams in the state last year. And both are elite once again.

Middleton is chasing both the Spartans and Regents again this winter. But the Cardinals are closing in on both powers, which they showed at last Saturday’s Middleton Invite.

Madison Memorial won the 11-team invite with 190 points, while West was second with 170. Middleton was third at 154, while Verona-Mount Horeb (143) and McFarland (137) rounded out the top five.

“It was a good indication of where we need to be to get as close as possible to Madison Memorial and Madison West,” Middleton coach Sam Niesen said. “Thankfully we’ve still got a good couple of weeks to phase out stroke weaknesses before conference, sectionals, and state.”

Middleton’s 300-yard butterfly relay team of junior Isaac Hanson, junior Luke Delaney, freshman Andrew Lund and senior Jacob Aegerter was second.

Kevin Bavery has had a dream since arriving at Middleton High School 10 years ago.

Bavery, the Cardinals’ boys basketball coach, has a vision of seeing his program win a state championship one weekend, then watching the girls do the same thing.

This year, Bavery has added a third element to his utopian scenario.

“Add in a hockey championship,” Bavery said.

Why not?

Middleton’s ‘Big 3’ winter sports have always performed at a high level. But all three are taking it to new heights this winter.

Middleton’s boys basketball and boys hockey teams are both ranked No. 2 in the state. That’s the highest ranking either program has ever achieved.

The Cardinals’ girls basketball team — which was No. 1 in the state earlier this year — is also currently ranked No. 2.

It’s believed that’s the first time any school has had those three sports teams ranked in the top-two at the same time.

It came in waves that seemed impossible throughout a tumultuous first half.

A knifing drive and a basket between two defenders. A crossover dribble, a lightning quick first step and a reverse layup.

A 23-footer from the right wing. Then a cold-blooded, straight on dagger from 26-feet out.

The overflow crowd that came to Madison Edgewood Saturday was treated to one of the finest boys basketball games of the year between Middleton and the Crusaders. Little did they know, they were also coming for the Storm Murphy Show.

Murphy, the Cardinals’ dynamic junior point guard, erupted for 29 of his 31 points in the second half. And Murphy’s explosion helped Middleton rally from a 16-point deficit and post an 80-73 win.

Amazingly, Murphy had 18 of his points in the final six minutes as Middleton held off the gritty Crusaders.