Sports

Middleton’s boys basketball team is smart enough to understand that rankings truly mean little. Especially at this time of the year.

But there is a respect factor involved. And when Middleton was unranked last week — and saw Big Eight rival Sun Prairie jump to No. 6 — MHS felt a little snubbed.

“We didn’t really like that,” Middleton junior forward Tyree Eady said. “We felt we deserved to be up there.”

So Middleton did something about it.

In a showdown of Big Eight unbeatens last Thursday, Middleton raced to an 18-point, first half lead and rolled to a 69-61 victory.

Middleton improved to 5-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big Eight. Sun Prairie slipped to 4-1, 3-1.

“That was a big win for us,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “Sun Prairie’s really good.”

Eady finished with a team-high 20 points and added two steals, while junior guard C.J. Fermanich had 19 points, four rebounds and two steals.

The process started more than a year ago.

Videos sent to schools throughout the country. Talks with coaches from all corners. Making campus visits whenever possible.

Last week, Middleton softball standout Rachel Everson finally saw all of her hard work — both on the field and on the recruiting trail — pay off.

Everson accepted a full scholarship to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Everson, a junior at MHS, will be a freshman at IPFW in the fall of 2017.

“The recruitment process didn’t come easy,” Everson said. “I started a year ago having my hitting coach email my skills video to schools throughout the country. We got a fair amount of interest, and from that some coaches came to watch me play on my travel team and/or I attended their camp.

Bria Lemirande was tired. Alexis Thomas was drained.

But the most fatigued person at Middleton High School Tuesday night just might have been the home scorekeeper.

Middleton’s high-powered, run-and-gun girls basketball team survived a track meet against upstart Sun Prairie. Middleton put five players in double figures and toppled Sun Prairie, 99-87, in an early-season Big Eight Conference showdown.

Middleton, the state’s No. 1 team in the latest wissports.net poll, improved to 6-0 and 5-0 in the conference. Sun Prairie fell to 5-2, 4-1.

“That was a lot of fun,” said Middleton junior standout guard Bria Lemirande. “It’s awesome. I love the fast paced games. I like pushing the ball. That’s kind of our team’s thing, so those kind of games always work in our favor.”

Their start has turned heads across the Big Eight Conference — and the state, for that matter.

Now, Middleton’s boys basketball team gets a pair of big-time tests this week.

The Cardinals improved to 4-0 overall and in the league last Friday with an 81-39 destruction of Madison La Follette. Now, things intensify this week when Middleton hosts Sun Prairie (3-0, 4-0) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Madison Memorial (3-1, 3-1) Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“Sun Prairie and Madison Memorial were my top preseason picks in the Big Eight Conference, along with Madison East,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said.

Middleton has entered that discussion now, thanks to its impressive start. And the Cardinals continued to roll with a strong showing against the Lancers.

Junior forward Tyree Eady, the Big Eight’s leading scorer at 25.2 points per game, led the Cardinals with 23 points and six steals. Junior guard Storm Murphy added 19 points and six assists.

Middleton’s hockey team has jumped to No. 4 in the latest Wisconsin Prep Hockey poll. And the way the Cardinals have performed this season, their upward climb hasn’t ended.

Middleton rolled to three more wins last week and improved to 9-0 on the season.

The Cardinals toppled Sun Prairie, 3-1, last Tuesday. Middleton then blanked Madison La Follette/East, 13-0, last Thursday and downed Madison Memorial, 6-1, last Saturday.

Middleton’s win over the Spartans was especially sweet after Memorial defeated the Cardinals in a sectional final last year.

“That game was a good measuring tool for us as coaches to see and get a sense of where we are as a team,” Middleton coach Steffon Walby said of the Memorial game. “I felt that we didn't have any passengers, and that everyone brought their ‘A’ game.”

Sun Prairie certainly brought its ‘A’ game to Middleton last Tuesday.

Sam Niesen is quick to admit he had some doubts.

Niesen, Middleton’s boys swimming coach, watched his team struggle in their season-opener two weeks ago.

Since then, though, the Cardinals have made immense strides. And Middleton continued its upward trend last week.

Middleton bested Sun Prairie, 111.50-58.50, and toppled Janesville Parker, 130-40 at its own triangular. The Cardinals also finished second to Madison West at the Janesville Parker Relays last Saturday.

“We had a rough start in our first meet,” Niesen said. “But it has been a solid uphill climb ever since.

“A lot of the boys that don’t swim year-round are starting to get into shape, and they're really starting to impress me with how quickly they’re dropping time. We've got a good group of talent to work with, and I can tell that they're getting excited about their capabilities in the pool.”

Three state qualifiers have graduated.

There is youth and inexperience across the roster.

But there’s also an immense amount of talent.

Middleton’s wrestlers proved just that last Thursday, posting an impressive 43-33 win over Verona.

“It was a good win,” Middleton coach Kent Weiler said. “They should have never beaten us last year. 

“This just means that we put a better team together last Thursday. We have a long way to go.”

But the Cardinals showed they're certainly on the right track.

The meet started at 152 pounds, and after losing there, Middleton’s Maxwell Mayhew pinned Ryan Weiss in 1:16.

Verona earned a pin at 170, then Middleton’s Caleb Cymbalak pinned Reagan Stauffer in 1:16.

Middleton’s Gavin Adler notched a pin in 1:08 at 195 pounds, then Verona won at both 220 and heavyweight.

Middleton got hot at the lower weights, though.

Nine months ago, Middleton’s boys basketball team came to Madison East and saw its season end in heartache.

Just two weeks into the 2015-’16 campaign, it’s clear these Cardinals are older, wiser, better.

In an early-season showdown of Big Eight Conference heavyweights, Middleton used a pair of huge runs to topple the host Purgolders, 93-75. The Cardinals took control of the game with a 17-0 run early in the first half, and when East pulled within five points midway through the second half, Middleton uncorked a 16-0 burst.

It was a far cry from the WIAA Division 1 regional final in March, when the Purgolders edged the Cardinals, 56-53.

“All year, all summer that motivated us,” said Middleton junior forward Tyree Eady. “We felt like we shouldn’t have lost that game. We really wanted to get them back.”

Eady was a big reason why the Cardinals got measure of revenge. Eady pumped in a career-high 29 points and added nine rebounds and five steals.

Middleton’s girls basketball team was maybe 25 minutes into its season opener. And that’s when Bria Lemirande realized the method to the madness could yield enormous dividends.

Lemirande is the point guard for the Cardinals’ undersized, but remarkably speedy girls basketball team. And midway through the second half of the Cardinals’ first game of the year, their fast, aggressive, grueling style began paying off.

The opposing players from Stoughton struggled getting back on defense. Heads began to hang. The Vikings’ had lost their aggression.

Middleton, which trailed by eight points at halftime, stormed back for a 77-70 win. The Cardinals haven’t stopped rolling since.

There’s an old saying that speed kills — and these Cardinals are proof of that. Middleton knows just one gear — fifth.

Start fast. Finish strong.

Middleton’s boys basketball team did both last week and won its first two games of the season.

The Cardinals opened the year with an 82-73 road win at Janesville Parker last Thursday. Middleton followed that with an impressive 79-65 win over visiting Verona last Saturday.

Junior forward Tyree Eady scored a game-high 25 points in Middleton’s win over Parker. Junior guard Storm Murphy added 24 points and six rebounds, while junior guard C.J. Fermanich added 12 points.

Junior forward Myron Ashford added seven points, while junior Daydrian Spears added six points.

“(Parker) had two games under their belts,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of the Vikings. “They are big, physical and athletic with a prolific shooting guard. Any time you travel on a weeknight to Janesville or Beloit and come away with a Big Eight Conference victory you are pleased.”