It took only three games for Norwalk junior Bailey Birmingham to surpass 100 points this past season… and she never looked back.

Headlining a resurgence by the Warrior girls basketball team, Birmingham led the entire state in scoring through the regular season and regional play with 631 points. Among other categories, the 5’9” guard also paced Norwalk in assists, steals, blocks, 3-pointers and free throws. 

Earlier this week, Birmingham was recognized as a Class 4A first team All-State selection by both the Iowa Girls Coaches Association and the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association. She is the program’s first All-State first-teamer since Kelsey Cermak accomplished the feat three times from 2005 to 2007.

Birmingham’s final season averages included 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game. She showcased limitless range in making 62 three-pointers at a 32 percent clip and was relentless in getting to the free throw line more often than 108 teams in the state. She finished 211-for-266 at the foul line for 79.3 percent and twice scored 40 in a game.

First-year Norwalk head coach Joe Sigrist, whose up-tempo style perfectly suits the Warrior standout, says that Birmingham had an unbelievable season and expects that she will only get better as a senior.

“She attacks so hard. There’s not many quicker in a straight line,” Sigrist said, “and that’s our style of basketball. We play up-tempo. It’s a dribble-drive, attacking offense, and she’s a perfect one to start our offense because she gets downhill right away. We’re going to keep working with her [on] controlling her body and being able to stop on a dime and finish in a variety of ways, but she used her speed and her downhill attacking ability to get more free throws than anybody in the state, and she knocks them down at about (an 80 percent) clip, so we’re in pretty good shape there.”

One year after finishing 6-16 overall, the Norwalk girls went 18-5, placed second in the Little Hawkeye Conference and became the first Warrior team since 2008 to reach the regional finals. They will lose senior guard Anna Larson to graduation, but should return the rest of the roster next season while adding some talent from this year’s eighth-grade class as well.