Senior Night was a victorious occasion for the Norwalk basketball teams on Tuesday as the Warriors completed season sweeps of the Newton Cardinals. Just 24 hours removed from overtime wins against Pella, the Norwalk girls topped Newton 72-43 and the boys won 52-45.
Between games, five senior basketball players were recognized along with their parents. The group includes Anna Larson, Bentley Bezoni, Redek Born, Aidan Harder and Alex Soyer. Larson, the lone senior for the Norwalk girls, tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that her four-year high school career has gone by faster than she ever expected.
“You know it’s crazy to think about,” she said. “As a freshman I felt like [this night] was so far away and it’s here, and I’m just so happy that I got to celebrate it with my team and my coaches and it was just a super special night.”
The Norwalk girls came out firing against Newton, making six first-quarter 3-pointers to build a 24-14 lead. The Warriors surged ahead 42-20 by halftime and never looked back, pressuring the Cardinals into numerous turnovers and allowing only 14 points combined during the second and third periods.
Junior Bailey Birmingham, who poured in 40 points against Pella, led the Warriors with 21 on Tuesday. Braelyn Clark matched Birmingham by making three 3-pointers and finished with 18. Payton Travis added seven points and seven other Norwalk girls scored at least three. Evie Main knocked down four treys to lead Newton with 12 points.
The boys game featured several first-quarter lead changes and was close for two and a half quarters after Norwalk opened the second half with a four-minute scoring drought. The Warriors, though, finished the third on a 12-1 run and led by 16 points prior to Newton scoring the last nine points of the night.
Born paced Norwalk with 23 points, doing all of his damage from two-point range and the free throw line. Cameron Thomas and Tim Koerselman added six points each.
The Norwalk boys improved to 14-3 overall and 10-1 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, maintaining their share of a first-place tie with Dallas Center-Grimes. The Norwalk girls are 16-4 overall and 8-3 in the LHC. Both Warrior squads close out conference play on Friday night at Oskaloosa.