The Norwalk basketball teams both improved to 3-0 in Little Hawkeye Conference play on Friday night with home wins against Indianola. The Class 4A 7th-ranked Warrior girls held off a tough challenge from the Indians to win 58-50, bouncing back from Tuesday’s first loss of the season at Lewis Central. The Warriors prevailed in the boys game 75-48, extending their winning streak to five. Both games were heard live on 94.3 KNIA.

The Indianola girls, who lost by 47 points to third-ranked North Polk on Thursday, played with great effort throughout Friday’s game and took an early 10-3 lead. The score was tied 14-14 after one quarter and 26-26 at halftime. Norwalk opened the third quarter with a 13-3 run, then fought off multiple Indianola rallies the rest of the way to improve to 8-1. The Indians are now 2-6 overall and 2-1 in the LHC.

Braelyn Clark and Bailey Birmingham combined to score all 26 of the Warriors’ first-half points and finished with 23 and 17, respectively. Clark scored most of her points on transition layups and aggressive left-handed drives to the basket. Anna Larson and Ava Carlson added seven points each for Norwalk.

Senior Brynn Bishop paced the Indianola girls with three 3-pointers and 16 points, freshman Alexa Guyer added 13 and Zoey Belt scored six on a pair of treys.

The boys game was less competitive as Norwalk drained 13 three-point shots and posted a season-high 75 points, improving to 5-1 overall. The Warriors opened the game with an 11-2 run, Indianola countered with the next five points, then Norwalk gradually pulled away.

Warrior senior Aidan Harder, who missed the season’s first five games while recovering from injury, opened the game with a 3-pointer off the opening tip and finished the first half with three treys and 12 points. Senior Redek Born, who was recognized prior to the game for surpassing 1,000 career points, started fast and scored a game-high 18. Grady Sigrist hit two 3-pointers in each half and added 16. Eleven Warriors cracked the scoring column, including a pair of late treys by freshman Tillman Papcun.

Indianola freshman Easton McGraw had an impressive all-around game, scoring off the dribble as well as from behind the arc on his way to 15 points. Andrew DeWall also reached double digits with 11 points as the Indians dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play.

The Norwalk boys return to action on Saturday afternoon, hosting defending Class 4A champion West Des Moines Valley at 2:00 p.m. The Tigers beat the Warriors in the first round of last year’s state tournament. Indianola will host Carlisle in a girl/boy doubleheader on Monday night and Norwalk hosts Des Moines Lincoln in a girl/boy doubleheader on Tuesday.