The Norwalk basketball teams completed another varsity sweep on Monday night, defeating Winterset in a girl-boy doubleheader heard live on 94.3 KNIA and KNIA3. 

The Class 4A third-ranked Warrior girls overcame a rough night offensively and pulled away late for a 39-31 win, improving to 6-0 on the season. The Warrior boys played their best ball in the first half, surging to a 42-23 halftime lead and defeating the Huskies 67-56 to improve to 2-1.

Junior guard Bailey Birmingham, who entered the night averaging 30 points per game for the Norwalk girls, was held to 12 and fouled out with 1:49 to go, but still led all players in scoring. Ava Carlson tallied nine of her 11 points in the second half for the Warriors and was once again a force on the boards. Braelyn Clark chipped in six points for Norwalk and Olivia Boyle scored 11 for Winterset, now 1-2.

The Warriors led 11-3 early in the second period but found themselves down 17-14 at halftime. A pivotal 7-0 run in the fourth proved to be the difference as Ellie Dueland knocked down a 3-pointer, Carlson scored off a putback and Clark added a tough bucket inside as well.

With many of the same players back from last year’s 6-16 campaign, the Norwalk girls have already matched last year’s win total. Birmingham tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that the team has thrived under new head coach Joe Sigrist and entered this season with confidence. She adds that the Warriors will not be satisfied with just a hot start.

“It just feels awesome to be 6-0,” she said. “To already have as many wins as we did last year, I couldn’t be more proud of this team and we’ve seen so much growth from last year… But we do have bigger goals than this. We’re 6-0, but we want to be 7-0, we want to be 8-0, and we’re just going to keep going from here.”

The Norwalk boys were paced by Redek Born’s 23 points, 11 each from Mason Johnson and Audric Pelzer and six apiece from Cameron Thomas and Grady Sigrist. Johnson entered the game scoreless through two games but knocked down three 3-pointers during an 11-point first-half explosion.

As a team, the Warriors carved up Winterset’s tenacious zone defense for eight first-half treys and 11 for the game. The scoring margin hovered around 20 points for most of the second half before the Huskies (2-1) made a late rally. Luke Linde hit four 3-pointers and led Winterset with 12 points.

Norwalk returns to action Friday night, hosting Pella Christian for a Little Hawkeye Conference girl-boy doubleheader starting at 6:15.