The Norwalk basketball teams swept a varsity doubleheader at Newton on Monday night, the girls winning 58-23 and the boys rallying back for a 59-51 victory in games heard live on 94.3 KNIA and KNIA3. The Warrior bowling teams were also in action, both falling short in a dual meet at Urbandale.

BASKETBALL

Ranked eighth in Class 4A, the Norwalk girls basketball squad dominated the Cardinals in their first matchup of the season. The Warriors built an 18-1 lead early in the second quarter and stretched the margin as high as 37 points in the final stanza, improving to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Newton dropped to 2-9 and 0-7, respectively.

Norwalk forced the Cardinals into numerous turnovers in the first half and attacked the basket effectively, leading to 11 free throws in 14 attempts. The Warriors then knocked down seven 3-pointers in the second half, including five by junior guard Bailey Birmingham, who followed up Friday’s 40-point outing at Pella Christian with a game-high 30. Payton Travis, who hit three treys, and Pearl Brown both scored nine points off the bench while Ava Carlson and Braelyn Clark each scored five. Alex Garvis scored seven points to pace the Cardinals.

The boys game was a back-and-forth affair. Norwalk appeared to be in control early on, quickly building a 13-2 advantage and leading 21-9 after one quarter. But led by sophomore Caden Klein, the Cardinals caught fire in the second stanza, knocking down seven 3-pointers and outscoring the Warriors 25-8 to lead by five at the half.

Newton extended its lead to 46-37 in the third before Norwalk responded with 15 straight points and limited the Cardinals to just five the rest of the way. Redek Born, Tim Koerselman, Grady Sigrist and Cameron Thomas all scored in double digits for the Warriors and Aidan Harder just missed with nine points. Koerselman made a team-high three 3-pointers. Klein finished with six treys and 22 points for Newton but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Christian Lawson added 13 for the Cardinals, who dropped to 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the Little Hawkeye. Norwalk improved to 9-2 overall and continues to lead the LHC at 6-0.

BOWLING

The Norwalk bowling teams competed well but couldn’t outscore Urbandale in Monday’s make-up dual at Gameday Lanes inside the Merle Hay Mall. The Warrior boys posted a season-high total score in a 3001-2772 defeat, dropping to 4-5 on the season. The girls also bowled well but lost 2123-2021 and are now 3-6 overall.

Freshman Zalen Holden and junior Andrew Winfrey paced the Norwalk boys with two-game series scores of 411. Holden bowled a career-best 262 on the day and Winfrey had a 247. Gavin Housley converted 100 percent of his strike/spare opportunities for Norwalk during the Baker games series. Julia Palen paced the Warrior girls with a 325 series and added a Baker games conversion rate of 83 percent. Norwalk trailed by just 23 pins after the first Baker game before Urbandale was able to extend their advantage.