Sports

VERONA — The magnitude of the night could be felt in countless ways.

The jam-packed parking lot. The overflow crowd. Student sections — and even adults — that never rested.

But Middleton girls basketball standout Liz McMahon knew the Cardinals’ game against Verona Thursday was really big-time midway through the first quarter. That’s when Verona officials lifted a large curtain so folks that had filled an auxiliary gym could also watch the game.

“It felt like a sectional final,” McMahon said. “It was great.”

The result — from Middleton’s perspective — was even better.

The Cardinals put four players in double figures, dominated the glass in the second half and toppled the Wildcats, 65-60, before a raucous crowd.

Middleton improved to 16-2 overall, 14-0 in the Big Eight Conference and took a major step towards winning the league for the seventh time in eight years. Verona fell to 16-2, 12-2.

Middleton’s baseball program has become a pipeline to Division 1 colleges in recent seasons.

And Cardinals senior Luke Schafer will continue that movement.

Schafer, a two-time all-Big Eight Conference selection, will play at Iowa next season. Schafer gave a verbal commitment to the Hawkeyes last week after visiting the school Jan. 27-28.

Schafer will be a preferred walk-on with the Hawkeyes, with the hope that scholarship money will become available later.

“It’s a tight roster right now, so it was extremely competitive,” Schafer said. “But next year, they’ll lose 17 seniors. Obviously, it would have been great to get a full scholarship. But hopefully the scholarship will work itself out if I can go in there and prove myself.”

Schafer has certainly proved himself during his time at Middleton.

They are the gold standard for the rest of the Big Eight Conference. The programs everyone else is chasing.

Middleton and Verona’s girls basketball teams have dominated the conference since the Wildcats joined the league in 2008-09.

In the six seasons since, Verona has posted an 84-19 conference mark (81.6%). The Wildcats have also shared the league title twice in that time.

The only program that’s achieved greater success is mighty Middleton. The Cardinals are a remarkable 90-13 in conference games (87.4%) and have won or shared five conference titles in the last six years.

So it’s fitting these two powers will meet for the league title Thursday in Verona at 7:30 p.m. Middleton enters a perfect 13-0 in the conference, while the Wildcats are 12-1.

Madison La Follette (9-4) is a distant third in the league, meaning Thursday’s game will likely decide the league.

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

That’s the message Middleton’s girls basketball team has been delivering to its foes lately.

The Cardinals rolled to a pair of highly-impressive wins last week. First, Middleton trounced host Madison East, 83-49, last Thursday. The Cardinals followed that up with a 73-45 snack down of visiting Madison West last Saturday.

Middleton, ranked No. 6 in the latest wissports.net Division 1 poll, improved to 15-2 overall and 13-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

“Our team is really gelling together,” Middleton senior forward Liz McMahon said. “We’re running our offense well with good spacing and we continue to learn how to best play together.

“Defensively, we’re running our press well and improving on our half court defense. Hopefully we can continue our success, because this last part of the season is where our hard work can pay off.”

Middleton’s hard work has certainly paid off, of late.

A few games back, Middleton boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery sensed a change was necessary.

Bavery had been using senior guard Derek Rongstad at the point all season long. But with the Cardinals in need of an offensive lift, Bavery shifted Rongstad to shooting guard.

The move has paid off in spades.

Last Friday night, Rongstad erupted for a career-high 33 points and powered Middleton to a much-needed 86-79 win over Madison East. Rongstad, a UW-Milwaukee recruit, has now exploded for 86 points in his last three games.

“It was important to get him into more of a scoring emphasis and he's responded,” Bavery said of Rongstad. “The timing is great for us in this stretch run leading into tournament time as it's made us more complete.”

Senior forward Max Oelerich added 16 points and senior forward Derek Rogeberg had 15 points.

Middleton’s hockey team needed a lift.

The Cardinals, mired in their first losing season in more than a decade, needed something good to happen last week.

Enter Jordan Carey.

Middleton’s senior forward scored a pair of late goals in a span of two minutes, 22 seconds last Thursday and lifted his team to a 4-3 win over visiting Janesville.

“Jordan is a special player,” Middleton interim coach Steffon Walby said. “He has the ability to take over a game at a moments notice.

“He played extremely well and got a few good bounces that he ultimately capitalized on. When he is mentally sharp and plays a physical game, he can be the best player on the ice.”

Middleton also dropped a 3-0 decision to first-place Verona last Saturday. The Cardinals now stand at 8-10-2 overall this year and are in fourth place in the Big Eight Conference at 6-4-2.

Carey’s heroics were the highlight of the week for Middleton.

Crunch time has arrived for Middleton’s boys swimming team.
And the Cardinals appear ready to finish the season with a bang.

Middleton finished in third place at the 21-team Madison West Invitational last Saturday at the UW-Natatorium. And with the postseason now here, the Cardinals seem ready to make a splash.

“The meet went really well for us,” Middleton coach Luke Lengfeld said. “We had a number of season best times or personal best times. We are swimming fast at the right time and it’s really setting us up for a very successful championship season.”

Madison Memorial won the meet with 534 points, while Madison West (283), Middleton (224), Eau Claire Memorial/North (186) and Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (182) rounded out the top five.

Middleton is at the Big Eight Conference meet Saturday at Beloit Memorial at 2 p.m. The Cardinals then host the Middleton Sectional Feb. 15 and are at the WIAA Division 1 state meet Feb. 22.

JANESVILLE — Tom Klawitter is a tough man to silence.

Janesville Parker’s girls basketball coach is one of the most vocal, demonstrative and outspoken coaches you’ll find in the state of Wisconsin.

But last Friday night, Middleton junior guard Elizabeth Norregaard and her Cardinal teammates pushed the mute button on Klawitter and his Vikings.

Norregard erupted for 32 points, which is believed to be the most by a Middleton player since Angie Halbleib’s 44-point effort during a WIAA state tournament game in 1993. Norregaard’s huge night helped the Cardinals pummel the host Vikings, 62-36.

“Wow. I had no idea,” said Norregaard, whose family moved from Denmark just three months ago. “That’s really neat. I guess I’m pretty proud.”

With good reason.

Derek Rongstad was baffled.

Two thirds of the way into this boys basketball season filled with enormous promise, Middleton’s senior guard wasn’t expecting this.

“Every time we take a step forward, we take two steps back,” Rongstad said. “Every time we win, it seems like the next night we come out and don’t have the same energy. It’s extremely frustrating.”

And how.

Middleton’s search for a branch of consistency to grab onto fell short again last Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals wasted a 15-point lead and eventually fell to visiting Janesville Parker, 77-76, in overtime.

It’s believed to be the first time Parker has ever won at Middleton and marked the first time since the Cardinals joined the Big Eight Conference 20 years ago that they were swept in a season series by the Vikings.