Sports

Every team — regardless of sport — is hit with some form adversity during a season.

The great ones handle it and move on. The others fade to black.

That’s why Middleton hockey coach Steffon Walby was feeling awfully good about his team last Saturday.

Middleton rolled past visiting Sun Prairie, 5-1, with one of its most impressive performances of the season. Just 48 hours earlier, Middleton fell to visiting Madison Memorial, 3-2.

Middleton continues to lead the Big Eight Conference with a 7-1 record and is 10-3-1 overall. Madison Memorial (6-2, 11-4) is just one game behind the Cardinals in the league race, while Janesville (5-2, 9-4-1) and Madison West (5-2, 10-3-1) are one game back in the loss column.

“I thought we played really well,” Walby said of his team’s performance against Sun Prairie. “It was a great effort in a ‘bounce back’ game.”

Middleton took it to Sun Prairie from start to finish.

Middleton senior Jenna Blair did her best to put a positive spin on Middleton’s heartbreaking 65-60 loss to Janesville Craig on Saturday night.

But that wasn’t easy for the Cardinals senior, or any of her girls basketball teammates.

“We knew they were a good team coming into the game,” said Blair, who sank a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter en route to Middleton grabbing an 11-point lead in the final period.

“It was a disappointing loss. But sometimes a loss has an upside. So we’ll be ready to beat them next time and we’re motivated to play them again.”

Middleton lost its stranglehold on first-place in the Big Eight Conference.

Craig trailed, 56-45 early in the fourth quarter, but stormed back and overtook the Cardinals thanks to a 15-2 game-turning run.

Two months ago, Middleton’s boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery was in the middle of breaking down his roster.

And when Bavery got to sophomore point guard C.J. Fermanich, he simply said: “C.J. is just so good.”

That was evident Tuesday evening.

Fermanich drilled a game-winning 17-footer with 5 seconds left and lifted Middleton to a 63-62 win at Madison West. The Cardinals overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and notched a critical win, improving to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Eight Conference.

Junior forward Cody Markel led the Cardinals with 15 points, while Fermanich added 12. Fermanich had 10 fourth quarter points, made six of seven free throws, and knocked home the eventual game-winner.

“It takes a lot of courage to step up and take that shot, make or miss,” Bavery said of Fermanich. “Ultimately it's not the play, but the player who makes the play when the game is on the line.

It may not have the stars of some of the other Big Eight contenders, but Middleton’s hockey team continues to show it can play with anybody.

The Cardinals proved it again last Friday as they knocked off Madison West, 5-2, in a Big Eight Conference showdown at the Capitol Ice Arena.

“We don’t have any superstars like West or Verona,” Middleton coach Steffon Walby said. “All those teams have a least three or four great players and we respect them.

“The thing is we’ve got three or four lines that are deep enough that, when they pull together and tug on the same rope in the same direction, they can be dangerous for longer. I can play them all the time.”

Locked in a 2-2 tie, the Cardinals showed their mettle with three unanswered goals in the third period.

Their various illnesses are thing of the past — they hope.

And last Friday night, Middleton’s girls basketball team left host Madison West feeling ill.

The Cardinals stampeded the Regents, 64-30, ending a stretch in which Middleton was slowed by the flu, sinus infections and food poisoning.

Middleton, ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll, improved to 9-1 overall. The Cardinals also moved to 7-0 in the Big Eight Conference, setting up a Saturday night showdown against visiting Janesville Craig, which is also 7-0 in the league.

“I think we are starting to get healthy again,” said Middleton coach Jeff Kind, whose team has been under the weather the last three weeks. “I didn’t hear all the coughing and it looked like we started getting our legs back a little more, so hopefully we've weathered the storm and will be healthy for the stretch run.”

Madison Memorial’s boys basketball program has captured three WIAA Division 1 state titles since 2005.

The Spartans have won or shared 11 straight Big Eight Conference titles. And Memorial has been to the state tournament nine times since 2004.

So beating the mighty Spartans — regardless of the venue — has been a tall task for anyone.

But trips to Madison Memorial’s loud sometimes intimidating gymnasium have been a nightmare for Middleton.

Last Saturday, the Cardinals felt they had their best chance in many years at upending the Spartans in their own gym. Instead, Memorial put on a clinic and routed the Cardinals, 73-46.

Middleton, which fell to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the league, hasn’t won at Memorial since Feb. 3, 2005. John Boyle, who was in attendance last Saturday, was the Cardinals’ coach the last time they won at Memorial.

The Spartans, who have gone through some surprising early-season struggles, improved to 5-5, 3-3.

Multiple state tournament appearances. A handful of conference championships.

And remarkable consistency throughout the athletic department.

It was a sensational year for the sports teams at Middleton High School.

Here’s one person’s opinion of the top sports stories of 2014.

1. Sensational Skibba

Lindsey Solberg.

This was Middleton’s list of individual girls golf state champions before 2014.

Then, Loren Skibba went and doubled that total.

Skibba, Middleton’s remarkably gifted junior, gave a memorable performance at this year’s state meet held in mid-October at University Ridge. Skibba conquered the rain, wind and plummeting temperatures and posted a two-day score of 3-over par, 147, which was good for a four-shot win over Homestead’s Anika Hitt.

It appeared to be over.

Their holiday break was set to start. And Middleton’s boys basketball team seemed certain to have its time off spoiled.

The Cardinals trailed Monona Grove, 57-47, with 1:43 left in the championship game of the Middleton Holiday Tournament last Tuesday.

Then, amazingly, Middleton finished the game on a 13-0 run. And the Cardinals stunned the Silver Eagles and notched a 60-57 win.

With several alumni on hand to watch the dramatics, Middleton improved to 6-1 overall and is 3-1 in the Big Eight Conference. The Cardinals then had 12 days off before they travel to Madison Memorial Saturday.

“Any time you make a miraculous comeback everything, or almost everything, has to go right,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said.

And that was certainly the case for the Cardinals.

FRANKLIN — There are several things to like about Emily Bergum’s game.

But there’s one reason above any other why Bergum plays a key role for Middleton’s girls basketball team.

“She can really shoot it,” Cardinals head coach Jeff Kind said.

That was certainly evident Tuesday afternoon.

Bergum knocked down consecutive three-point baskets late in the game and powered Middleton to a 59-50 win over Waunakee in the consolation bracket of the Christine Rathke Memorial Tournament held at Franklin High School.

The Cardinals, who dropped their tournament opener to Beaver Dam Monday, improved to 8-1 on the season.

“I like shooting, and when I made those it really boosted our confidence,” Bergum said. “Those were pretty big shots.”

They sure were.

SUN PRAIRIE — Sophomore point guard Storm Murphy is listed at 5-foot-9 on Middleton’s boys basketball roster.

But Murphy is proof that good things come in small packages.

Murphy drained three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the second period to help power Middleton to a stunning 74-54 victory over host Sun Prairie in a Big Eight Conference boys basketball game last Friday.

Sun Prairie entered the game ranked No. 9 in Division 1 by wissports.net.
“He’s really deceiving because he’s this tiny little sophomore guard right now,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “Everybody knows he’s up with us because he can really handle it.

“But Storm has the ability to step back into his three. He’s another one of those kids who lives on the shoot-away gun all summer long. You can’t kick him out of the gym. So we trust him.”