You might say that Norwalk girls basketball junior Bailey Birmingham is simply making up for lost time.

In three games since the Warriors returned from an oversized holiday break, Birmingham has racked up 97 points and 11 steals, knocked down 13 three-pointers and helped Norwalk improve to 12-2 with three road wins.

Birmingham had an off shooting night at Carlisle but made 16-of-22 free throws in a double-overtime victory. She followed that up with seven 3s and 40 points at Pella Christian, then made five second-half treys and tallied 30 at Newton on Monday night. With her recent surge, Birmingham now leads the entire state – regardless of class – with 26.1 points and 8.2 made free throws per game. She has already scored 366 points this season and is just 13 shy of 1,000 for her career.

Birmingham enjoyed a similar stretch to start the season with 101 points in the first three games. She credits her teammates and coaches for giving her the confidence and freedom to have these big scoring nights. “They have a lot of belief in me and it means a lot,” she said. “They set me up with the passes and once I hit one then I just kind of gain confidence.”

Birmingham’s teammates are knocking down shots and playing tenacious defense as well, a big reason the Warriors are ranked eighth in Class 4A. Birmingham says that when multiple girls are hitting shots, the team’s energy level soars.

Norwalk endured a three-and-a-half week stretch without competition due to Christmas break and weather cancellations, but Birmingham feels that the team made the most of their time off and improved both offensively and defensively. “It was really hard not being able to play for over three weeks, but we also used that time to practice,” she said. “We got some days off, but we also had some really tough practices and went at it, and we have seen a lot of improvement since before Christmas break.”

Norwalk will close out the week with games at Indianola Friday night and home vs. Ames on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors will then host top-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes on Tuesday, January 30.