Middleton posts huge win at Arrowhead

TOWN OF MERTON — In the blink of an eye, Middleton’s 10-point lead at mighty Arrowhead last Saturday had trickled to six.

Then four, and suddenly one with just 55 seconds remaining.

Just like that, the Cardinals’ breathing room was gone.

“That was rough,” senior forward Luke Sheehan said. “But one thing about this team is we know how to finish.”

Boy, do they ever.

The Cardinals have been magnificent in tight contests this season, and that didn't change against the powerful Warhawks. Middleton came up with three huge defensive stops in the final minute — two that resulted in fast break lay-ups — to hold off host Arrowhead, 81-76, in a thrilling game between two teams more that capable of making a run to state.

Middleton improved to 14-2 overall and is now 5-0 this season in games decided by five points, or less. Arrowhead, which leads the Classic Eight Conference and plays one of the state’s most demanding schedules, fell to 12-6.

“I thought this was our best game of the year,” Middleton senior guard Jackson Guerrero said. “We played well on offense and defense.”

Middleton coach Kevin Bavery took it one step further. Bavery, who led the 2022-’23 Cardinals to a 17-0 start, said this might have been Middleton’s best game since that season.

“The balance was really good,” Bavery said. “We did shrink the lineup a little bit thinking that we knew they were going to play seven and we just had to keep good matchups as much as possible and the right combinations where we had enough scoring on the floor. But everybody came through at different times. It was a great win.”

Balance was undoubtedly the key for Middleton, which put five players in double figures.

Senior guard Andrew Qastin was sensational, scoring 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half when Middleton built a 41-34 lead. Qastin finished the night shooting 10-of-15 from the floor and surviving a fall where he hit the back of his head on the floor after attacking Arrowhead’s 6-foot-9 center Domanic Rasberry.

“It felt really good to see the ball go in that much,” Qastin said.

Sophomore post Carter Parks — who was giving up five inches to Rasberry — used his athleticism to get to the rim and finished with 16 points and four rebounds. Sheehan, who assistant coach Tom Lesar calls Middleton’s ‘Spirit Animal’, had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and added seven rebounds.

Senior guard John Grimes had a tremendous all-around game with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. And senior guard Jackson Guerrero had 10 points, eight deflections and four steals — including three enormous late-game thefts that led to transition lay-ups.

“Jackson is just insane at defense,” Sheehan said. “Like, he’s our star out there always on defense.”

It definitely took a village, though, for the Cardinals to notch a road win against an Arrowhead program that’s reached the state tournament five times in the last two decades and was the state runner-up in 2024.

Middleton’s offense functioned at an extremely high level, as the Cardinals shot 33-of-67 from the floor (49.3%). Defensively, Middleton had 13 steals, forced 21 turnovers and held Arrowhead to 30.0% shooting on 3-pointers — 11% lower than its season average.

Guerrero went toe-to-toe with Arrowhead junior guard Trey Resch, the Warhawks’ leading scorer at 21.5 points per game. And while Resch finished with a team-high 20 points, he needed 18 shots to get there.

Qastin and sophomore guard Cormac Carlson (nine points) also took turns on Arrowhead guard Blake Basich, a tremendous all-around talent who was held to 12 points and struggled with turnovers throughout.

“He’s definitely a really good player,” Qastin said of Basich. “But I just felt like our relentless pressure on their team the whole game was going to get to them over time. And with our backside help, it’s very easy to trust the player behind us to get turnovers.”

Middleton trailed just once all night — that coming early in the second half when Arrowhead junior forward Theo Toepel (15 points) drilled a 3-pointer to give the Warhawks a 44-43 lead. But the Cardinals always seemed to have an answer.

Middleton used a 17-4 burst to take a 60-48 lead with 10:45 left and still held a 76-66 edge with 2 ½ minutes left when Arrowhead mounted one final charge. The Warhawks went on a 10-1 run in which they scored on five straight trips, while Middleton went 1-of-6 from the free throw line and had two turnovers in their five possessions.

Suddenly, the Warhawks were within 77-76 with just 55 ticks left.

“As well as we played the entire game, we had back-to-back self-inflicted wounds,” Bavery said of the turnovers. “And right now, we just don’t shoot free throws well enough. We need to get better at that.”

Arrowhead had a chance to take the lead with 30 seconds left, but Guerrero played terrific defense and Resch missed a mid-range pull up. Rasberry missed a follow-up, then Qastin rebounded and fired ahead to Grimes for a lay-up that gave Middleton a 79-76 advantage.

Then after both teams had an empty possession, Arrowhead had one last chance to tie. But Guerrero — who holds the Middleton school record for career steals — had a huge swipe and fed Parks for a game-clinching lay-up.

“My shot wasn’t feeling very good today,” Guerrero said. “I just stayed confident and got it done on defense.”

The Cardinals got it done from start to finish.

Middleton made an early statement, jumping to leads of 7-0 and 11-3. Qastin was sensational from the jump, scoring seven points in the first 3 ½ minutes and showed no fear driving into the belly of the Arrowhead defense that included the long, lanky Rasberry.

“We definitely had to attack him,” Qastin said of Rasberry. “We definitely weren’t afraid to attack him.”

Arrowhead answered with a 7-0 spurt to tie the game at 13. But in a pattern that held true throughout, each time the Warhawks threw a punch, the Cardinals punched back a little harder.

Grimes and Parks keyed a 6-0 Middleton burst that gave the Cardinals a 19-13 lead. And after Arrowhead closed within 32-31, Middleton responded with a 7-0 spurt that included four points from Qastin and a 3-pointer from Guerrero to regain a 39-31 advantage.

At halftime, Middleton led 41-34 behind 16 points from Qastin, eight from Parks and seven from Grimes.

“I just thought we were really connected as a team the whole game,” Sheehan said. “Most of us have been playing together since we were in third grade and we just have such good chemistry together. We just link so well. And our energy in general has been amazing. It makes a huge difference.”

Arrowhead scored on its first five possessions of the second half, though, and surged to a 44-43 lead — its only lead of the night. But Middleton countered with a 17-4 run, took its biggest lead of the night at 60-48 and seemed to be in control with 10:45 remaining.

Amazingly, the Cardinals scored on eight of 10 possessions in that run, highlighted by eight points from Parks, who pulled Rasberry away from the basket, then attacked him off the dribble.

“When Rasberry was in the game, we wanted Carter to use space and attack,” Bavery said. “And Carter attacked the rim really well.”

Middleton’s lead fluctuated between four and 12 points the next 8 minutes. And after Arrowhead crept within 70-66, Guerrero had a breakaway lay-up, then had back-to-back steals that led to transition lay-ups for Grimes and Parks.

Just like that, Middleton’s lead had ballooned back to 76-66 with 2:40 left.

“When it was really, really crunch time, Guerrero stepped up on the defensive end with probably three deflections and a couple of steals,” Bavery said. “That was when the game was on the line.”

Then after Arrowhead made its late-game run, Middleton was fantastic on the defensive end to lock down one of its better wins in the last decade.

“It’s definitely a big confidence booster, getting a big win here in Arrowhead,” Qastin said. “I think we know what we can do and I think we’re really confident in our team on a whole. Just going to keep racking up wins, hopefully.”

Sheehan agreed.

“It feels great, but we’re just worried about what’s next,” Sheehan said. “We’ll live off this high for maybe another day or two, then we’re right back grinding.  But it’s definitely a big confidence booster.”

• On deck: Middleton was at Janesville Parker Tuesday, then travels to Sun Prairie East Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Cardinals then host Madison La Follette Feb. 11 at 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 30

Middleton 81, Arrowhead 76

Middleton…………...41  40 – 81

Craig …………..…. 34   42 – 76

MIDDLETON — Jackson Guerrero 3 2-3 10, Luke Sheehan 6 0-2 12, Andrew Qastin 10 1-1 22, John Grimes 5 1-2 12, Carter Parks 6 3-5 16, Cormac Carlson 3 0-0 9. Totals 33 7-14 81.

AROWHEAD — Blake Basich 4 2-2 12, Trey Resch 7 4-6 20, Ryan Schulz 3 0-0 9, Theo Toepel 6 2-2 15, Domanic Rasberry 5 1-1 11, Brady Thimmesch 3 0-0 7, Evan Wozniak 1 0-0. Totals 29 9-11 76.

3-point goals – A 9 (Schulz 3, Basich 2, Resch 2, Toepel, Thimmesch); M 7 (Carlson 3, Guerrero 2, Qastin, Parks, Grimes).