The countdown of Norwalk’s Top 10 Sports Stories from 2023-2024 has reached the No. 7 spot. Today, we look back at Bailey Birmingham’s outstanding junior season in leading a remarkable turnaround by the Warrior girls basketball team.

Birmingham opened the season with consecutive games of 31, 33 and 37 points, had a pair of 40-point outings, and led the entire state with 27.4 points per contest. Along the way, the 5’9” guard surpassed 1,000 career points on January 26 at Indianola.

Team success certainly followed as Norwalk returned nearly the entire roster from a 6-16 campaign the year before. The Warriors rolled to a 7-0 start out of the gate, finished 18-5 overall and placed second to Dallas Center-Grimes in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Following a thrilling overtime win over Carlisle in the regional semifinals, the Warriors lost at Lewis Central 53-49 in the program’s first regional final appearance in 16 years.

Birmingham, who was named first team All-State in Class 4A, complemented her scoring output with averages of 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.4 assists per game. She led the state with 211 free throws in 266 attempts and showcased exceptional range in knocking down 62 3-pointers. Birmingham tells KNIA Sports that her teammates and first-year head coach Joe Sigrist were instrumental in her scoring uptick.

“I have to credit my coach. I feel like the offense that we run… helps me a lot, as well as my teammates,” she said. “They are always setting me up. They have the confidence in me to do the things that they know are my strengths. Just the offseason too. We all worked so hard in the offseason and just built that confidence.”

Sigrist calls Birmingham a perfect match for his up-tempo offensive style, noting that not many players can get downhill faster in a straight line. Birmingham has committed to playing college basketball at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. Norwalk graduated only one senior from this year’s team in Anna Larson. The Warriors welcome in a talented eighth grade class this year which includes Bailey’s younger sister, Braylyn.