The Norwalk Girls Basketball Team won their first 10 games of the season but then lost on Jan. 7 to Dallas Center-Grimes, 48-53. A couple of players reflected on what happened during that game and how they were able to follow that up with a win against Newton, 71-24.

After the loss against DCG, senior Bailey Birmingham said, “I think we need to work on consistency; we had a couple of periods of time where we played really well during that game.”

The Mustangs led by 12 at the end of the third quarter. Norwalk attempted a comeback, but came up short, only outscoring DCG by seven in the fourth quarter. 

“I think [the loss] pushed us and gave us a sense of urgency to get better,” junior Ava Carlson said when asked how Norwalk will rebound their loss against Newton. “We decided that we’re just going to be us and do what we can control. I think that should help us get back on our feet after that loss to win tonight.”

Just a few hours later, Norwalk beat Newton by almost 50 points. For the statistical leaders, freshman Braylyn Birmingham led the team with 26 points on the day as well as five steals. Her sister, Bailey, also racked up double digits by scoring 24 points. Ava Carlson had the most rebounds on the team with six, followed by Braylyn with four. Junior Hannah Overholser led the team with the most assists, having four. She also had four fouls. 

Bailey Birmingham said the team has tons of goals for the upcoming season

“Throughout the season, we’ve been really working toward we want to win a conference championship,” Bailey said. “We want to make it to the state tournament and then ultimately win it, which we think we have the players [to] do that.”

Norwalk went on to beat Oskaloosa High School, 66-32, on Friday, Jan. 17.