It was a great night all around for the Norwalk Community basketball teams Tuesday as both Warrior squads completed a season sweep of the Newton Cardinals.
The Norwalk girls took care of business first, making seven three-pointers in building a 38-18 halftime lead and winning 61-37. The boys team also started fast, taking a 34-17 advantage to the locker room and winning 67-47 in a battle for second place in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Both games were carried live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3) as well as the Warrior Productions YouTube channel.
The Warrior girls put together one of their most complete halves of the season during Tuesday’s first 16 minutes, forcing a bundle of Newton turnovers with their press, converting in transition and sharing the basketball to set up open long-range shots. Freshman Pearl Brown, who entered the game with 13 career points, knocked down three treys and scored 15 of her 16 points by halftime. Bailey Birmingham led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds and Avery Thomas added 12 points on four threes.
Norwalk led 61-28 at one point, shot 49 percent from the field and came up with 14 steals. The Warrior girls’ first home win of the season improved their record to 5-15 overall and 3-10 in the Little Hawkeye. Head coach Jill Martin was thrilled for her young squad to get back in the win column and she hopes the momentum can build for Friday’s regular season finale vs. Oskaloosa and regional play to follow.
“I think the best part is how genuinely excited they are for each other,” Martin said. “They were so excited for Pearl tonight, as well as everybody else. We always do three good shout outs after everything, and there (were) a lot of them tonight.”
The boys game matched the Class 4A seventh-ranked Warriors against the Class 3A fourth-ranked Cardinals, but was never close. Norwalk’s 11th straight win lifted their record to 15-3 overall and 10-3 in the Little Hawkeye, breaking a tie for second place with Newton.
The Warriors’ tough man-to-man defense set the tone early, Braeden Carlson had a big first half inside and Redek Born scored from all over the court to lead the way with 22 points. Carlson finished with 17 points, Aidan Harder scored eight and Jack Brown, Cameron Thomas and Grady Sigrist added five each.
Norwalk coach Aaron Pelzer says it has been pretty impressive to watch his team rebound from a 1-3 conference start to be in a position to wrap up second place Friday night vs. Oskaloosa.
“In this 11-game winning streak, I don’t feel like we have had a letdown a single night,” he said. “And I’m kind of just starting to trust these guys that that’s who we are, so we will be ready on Friday night to bring our best game.”
Friday will also mark Senior Night for seven Norwalk players.