Middleton KO's 'Tosa East
The lead, once as great as nine points, was gone now.
The scoring drought had reached nearly 10 minutes.
And things looked extremely bleak for Middleton’s boys basketball team last Friday.
That’s when T.J. Bauer flashed the skill set that made him an all-conference defensive back on the gridiron last fall and a lockdown defender on the hardwood today.
With Middleton trailing Wauwatosa East, 40-39, in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal, Bauer intercepted a Red Raiders’ pass on the perimeter. Bauer raced the other way, beat everyone to the basket and gave Middleton a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
The Cardinals went on to post a thrilling 45-40 win and advanced to a regional final Saturday night against Hartland Arrowhead.
Middleton, the No. 5 seed in the sectional, got 12 points from junior forward Kaden Fosdick and improved to 16-9. The 12th-seeded Red Raiders, who won the state championship in 2021, got 17 points from Virginia recruit Leon Bond, but ended their season 10-12.
“They were making that lazy pass the entire second half,” Bauer said. “It was only a matter of time for me to kind of get out there and get it. I finally got a good read on it and I just committed 100% and I got it. That was huge.”
Boy, was it ever.
Middleton had played a brilliant first half in just its second game with standout guard Logan Raffel (appendix) and led 33-24 at the break. The Cardinals still held a 39-32 advantage 5 ½ minutes into the second half after a pair of free throws by Fosdick.
Middleton then went 12 straight possessions without scoring, a remarkable stretch of 9 minutes, 45 seconds. The long, athletic Red Raiders forced five turnovers in that time, blocked two shots and caused Middleton to miss 11 straight shots.
“They started cutting the court in half and we didn't play out of that very well,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “We went too quick and they did a great job on us.”
Until Bauer made the play of the night.
With East on an 8-0 run and going into a delay against Middleton’s 1-3-1 zone defense, Bauer jumped into a passing lane for a steal and basket with 2:41 left.
“I knew what he was thinking because he does that all the time in practice,” Middleton junior forward Gavyn Hurley said of Bauer’s big steal and basket. “He’s always trying to sniff it out, and boy did we need it.”
That set up a dramatic final 2 ½ minutes in which the Cardinals refused to budge.
Perhaps the biggest play came with 1:26 left and Middleton still nursing a one-point lead. Fosdick missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Cardinals senior post Mike Roach ran down the rebound in the left corner and Middleton called timeout.
The Cardinals then held the ball for nearly 50 seconds, and after an East foul, Nick Meinholz drilled a pair of free throws with 35.9 seconds left that put Middleton ahead, 43-40.
“That was the biggest play of the game,” Hurley said of Roach’s rebound.
Not to be outdone, Hurley made a monstrous play of his own. With East hunting for a tying 3-pointer or a quick basket, Hurley stole a pass and went the distance for a game-clinching lay-up.
Middleton’s student section — which had shown up 90 minutes early for the game and was passionate throughout — went wild. And just seconds later, the Cardinals were headed to the regional finals.
“My ears were just ringing,” Bauer said of the crowd after Hurley’s game-clinching steal. “The crowd was amazing.”
Hurley agreed.
“Our students were just incredible. They were coming in already at like 5:30,” he said. “And they really helped us.
“Plus, we played a full 36 (minutes). We wrote on the white board before the game, ‘Play harder.’ Play harder than the other team and we did that.”
Middleton — playing without Raffel and facing the defending state champs — needed to outwork the Red Raiders.
East was undoubtedly the most athletic team the Cardinals had played all year.
The Red Raiders were lightning quick, fast to recover and contested every shot. No one was better than Bond, a 6-foot-6 defensive whiz who held Hurley — the Player of the Year in the Big Eight — to just six points.
“What an athlete,” Bavery said of Bond.
Added Hurley: “That dude has some locks.”
Middleton played one of its best halves of the year, though, and raced to a 33-24 lead at the break. The Cardinals shot a blistering 60.9% from the floor (14-of-23) and made 5-of-6 3-pointers (83.3%).
Making it even more impressive is the Cardinals did it without Raffel, who suffered an appendectomy 10 days earlier and later needed a second surgery.
“That’s a big loss in general, but especially the way he was playing down the stretch,” Bavery said of Raffel, who was Middleton’s second-leading scorer. “And it takes something out of our lineup that’s really hard to replace. There’s really nobody who can step into that kind of role.”
Somehow, though, the Cardinals found their way.
Bauer drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to open the game, then Roach and Fosdick had four points apiece as Middleton raced to an 11-5 lead.
The Red Raiders began turning defense to offense, though. In fact, East battled back to take a 20-19 lead, at which time 13 of its points came in transition off Middleton turnovers.
“When we could keep them in the half court, we felt good,” Hurley said. “We just couldn’t let them get going in transition. In the half court, they couldn't score on us.”
Middleton protected the ball better in the final 6 ½ minutes of the first half and closed on a 14-4 run to take a 33-24 lead to the locker room.
Reserve guard Will Comerford started the fun with a 25-footer that gave the Cardinals a 22-20 lead. Hurley and Roach followed with lay-ups to give Middleton a 26-20 edge.
After East crept back within 29-24, Fosdick hit a pair of mid-range jumpers and the Red Raiders went scoreless the final 2:45 of the half.
Middleton opened the game in man-to-man defense, but with 13 minutes left in the first half switched to a 1-3-1 zone that gave the Red Raiders fits. East finished the half just 9-of-22 from the floor (40.9%) and the Cardinals went to halftime with all the momentum.
“We said we want to get to our 1-3-1 early and see how it looks,” said Bavery, who stayed in that defense the final 31 minutes. “We felt good in man. We didn’t feel great in man, but we wanted to start in it and get a sense of their quickness, athleticism, blocking out, which we did OK. But there’s no question, the 1-3-1 really helped us.”
The Red Raiders began attacking the zone better, though, early in the second half, scoring on four straight possessions at one point. And with Middleton in its scoring drought, Bond had a monstrous dunk on an assist from Aidan Blackmon to give East a 40-39 lead with 7:10 remaining.
Amazingly, though, East didn't score again.
Middleton’s defensive effort was off the charts and completely stymied the Red Raiders during crunch time. In East’s final nine possessions it turned the ball over six times and missed all three of its shots.
“I think our defense definitely stepped up,” Bauer said. “We were super disciplined on defense, stayed in our gaps. We knew they were a great driving team and they could shoot, so we still had to get out on them. But I think us staying in our gaps, especially in our zone, we did a great job of that.”
Then, of course, Bauer played hero — and Roach and Hurley followed with huge plays of their own.
“It’s a great win,” Bauer said. “Everybody had a part in it. I’m just really proud of everyone.”
March 4
Middleton 45, Wauwatosa East 40
Wauwatosa East …. 24 16 — 40
Middleton …………..… 33 12 — 45
WAUWATOSA EAST (fg ft-fta pts) — Donovan Washington 1 1-2 3, Aidan Blackmon 1 0-0 2, Parker Thompson 2 2-2 6, Leon Bond 8 0-0 17, Lamar Smith 4 2-2 10, David Wilson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 5-6 40.
MIDDLETON —Nick Meinholz 1 2-3 5, T.J. Bauer 2 0-0 5, Kaden Fosdick 5 2-3 12, Easton Zempel 1 0-0 3, Gavyn Hurley 3 0-0 6, Mike Roach 4 0-2 2, Will Comerford 2 0-0 6. Totals: 18 4-6 45.
3-point goals: WE 1 (Bond); Mid. 5 (Comerford 2, Meinholz 1, Zempel 1, Bauer 1).
