A season for the ages came to a close on Thursday as the Norwalk girls basketball team was defeated by Cedar Rapids Xavier, 70-60, at Wells Fargo Arena. The Class 4A State Tournament semifinal game was heard live on 94.3 KNIA and the KNIA3 stream.
The fourth-ranked Warriors fell behind 13-3 in the opening minutes but charged back to build a 33-25 lead early in the third quarter. Xavier turned the tide with a 20-4 run and led by nine early in the fourth. Once again, Norwalk responded and fought back within 52-51 before the eighth-seeded Saints pulled away down the stretch.
Xavier, now 21-4 overall, advances to Saturday’s 4A championship game against North Polk. The Warriors finished their season at 23-2, matching a school record for wins, according to head coach Joe Sigrist. Norwalk’s six-player senior class is part of a resurgence that saw the program rise from 6-16 two years ago to coming within one win of playing for a state title. After the game, Coach Sigrist talked about the legacy of seniors Bailey Birmingham, Grace Linder, Avery Thomas, Ellie Dueland, Addi Stillman and Braelyn Clark.
“Their legacy is going to be… putting Norwalk girls basketball back on the map,” he said. “They’re the reason that we’re down here, that we made it to the semifinals. We had a super quarterfinal game, exciting finish. Look at the whole community that rallied behind us and filled these stands. People in Norwalk will remember these six seniors for a long time.”
The Warriors expended a great deal of defensive energy trying to slow down Xavier senior Libby Fandel, who finished with 21 points (five below her average), 14 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and three blocks. Fandel, a Kansas University signee, set up teammates Taylor Rexroth, Jaselle Lang and Madden Wilson for seven critical 3-pointers. Rexroth made all four of her long-range shots and scored 15 points. Wilson added 13. The Saints did not turn the ball over after halftime.
Norwalk was led by freshman Braylyn Birmingham’s 22 points and seven rebounds, including back-to-back treys during a fourth-quarter rally. Bailey Birmingham and Hannah Overholser both scored 11 points and Linder added six. Overholser kept the Warriors in the game early by scoring the team’s first seven points.
Bailey Birmingham, who will play college basketball at Northwest Missouri State, finishes her Warrior career with 1,668 total points.