The Norwalk girls basketball team opens the season tonight with a non-conference game at Urbandale starting at 6:15. New head coach Joe Sigrist will have three games to evaluate the Warriors before Thanksgiving as they host ADM on Monday night and play at Bondurant-Farrar on Tuesday night.

Norwalk returns nearly every varsity player from a team that finished 6-16 overall and 4-10 in the Little Hawkeye Conference last season, and optimism is high for significant improvement. Sigrist tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that the Warriors have demonstrated great attitudes, effort and leadership during a very successful summer and fall – traits that have continued during the first two weeks of practice. Focusing on a goal of daily improvements, Sigrist is excited to see what the 2023-2024 season has in store for his squad.

“We want to get better each and every day, and I think we’ve done that these last two weeks as we prepare for that first game,” he said. “If we continue to do that… our speed is going to be that much better, our shape is going to be that much better… and if it does improve, I’m just really looking forward to seeing where we’re at come the second half of the season when it turns into getting ready for tournament time.”

Team quickness will be one of Norwalk’s biggest strengths, and something they hope to utilize in a fast-paced, pressure defense type of style. Sigrist says that the Warriors must learn to play with their feet more on defense – not reach with their hands. Offensively, they must work on consistency and avoiding the scoring droughts that plagued them at times a year ago.

Junior guard Bailey Birmingham, a returning first team All-Conference and All-District selection, led the Warriors last season with averages of 18.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. A three-level scorer, Birmingham made 42 three-pointers and converted 102-of-141 free throws. Sigrist is looking for great leadership out of Birmingham and senior point guard Anna Larson, who averaged 4.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists before suffering a season-ending knee injury in January. Sigrist adds that if he’s only going to have one senior on the roster, Larson is the perfect one to lead this year’s team.

Juniors Avery Thomas and Braelyn Clark both averaged 7 points per game last year, with Thomas making a team-high 46 treys. Additional players returning with significant varsity experience are juniors Ava Garvey and Ellie Dueland and sophomores Ava Carlson and Pearl Brown.