Redek Born’s six free throws in the final 18 seconds of overtime lifted Norwalk past Winterset 62-56 in non-conference boys basketball action Monday night in Winterset. The Huskies won the girls game 56-34. Both contests were broadcast live on 94.3 KNIA.

The Norwalk boys led 27-26 at halftime but fought back from behind for much of the second half and the OT. Senior Braeden Carlson scored the game-tying basket off an inbounds lob with :18.4 left in regulation to tie the score at 51-51 and the Warriors came up with a big stop to force overtime.

Late in the extra session, Norwalk sophomore Cameron Thomas hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 56-56, and following an offensive rebound Born was fouled with 17.9 seconds remaining. Born broke the tie by converting both ends of a 1-and-1, and after another defensive stop and a technical foul on the Winterset bench Born drilled four more foul shots to clinch the Warrior victory.

Norwalk, now 1-1 on the season, was led by Carlson’s 21 points and 15 from Aidan Harder, unofficially. Brayden Dinkla paced the 1-2 Huskies with 16 points and Kade White added 10.

Norwalk head coach Aaron Pelzer says he challenged his players to get tougher following Friday’s 59-52 home loss to Pella, and they responded on Monday.

“I thought our toughness tonight and our resiliency when things didn’t go our way… if we didn’t make major strides from last Friday night [in that department] we would have gotten run out of the gym,” Pelzer said. “So I was proud of that. It’s just one step in the right direction, but we definitely could have folded several times during that game and we found a way to fight back.”

The Norwalk girls, meanwhile, suffered their third straight 22-point loss to start the season against the Class 4A 15th-ranked Huskies.

There were still plenty of positives for the Warriors, who trailed 14-5 after one quarter before out-scoring Winterset 13-11 in the second stanza. Led by standout guard Jena Young, the Huskies pulled away in the third quarter to improve to 3-0 overall. Young finished with a game-high 22 points.

Unofficially, sophomores Avery Thomas and Bailey Birmingham led Norwalk with 14 points apiece. Thomas made three straight 3-pointers during one first-half stretch and had four treys in the game. Birmingham added a pair of threes.

Both Norwalk squads will return to action Friday night for a Little Hawkeye Conference girl-boy doubleheader at Pella Christian starting at 6:15 p.m.