One-and-one last year. One-and-one this year. Tonight’s game could determine the path to the championship.
The #3 Norwalk Lady Warriors will take on the #2 Dallas Center-Grimes Mustangs in the Class 4A Semifinals. The game will be at 5 p.m. on March 5 at the Casey’s Center. Whoever wins will advance to the championship game on Saturday.
Since the two teams are conference rivals, they play each other more often. This will be the third matchup in the 2025-26 season. In terms of history, the Mustangs have won 28 of the 32 total (since 2008).
Norwalk sophomore Braylyn Birmingham has averaged 19.8 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, and 3.3 assists per game in her career against the Mustangs. DCG sophomore Ava Smid has averaged 12.3 points per game, 9.3 rebounds per game, and two assists per game in her career against the Warriors.
In Norwalk’s first state game, they took down the Central DeWitt Sabres to advance to the semifinals for the second year in a row. Last year’s quarterfinal against the Sabres was much closer, as it took a layup from now-senior Pearl Brown.
“Our defense was a lot better this game,” Brown said when asked about the improvements made. “We knew what their tendencies were, and we were just able to hold everybody under their average[s].”
That layup in last year’s game will arguably go down in history, as it is featured in the Lady Warriors’ pregame video.
Birmingham said that the team has played a lot of games this year, which has “definitely helped.”
“Our experience this year helped a lot, and our mental preparation… we were physically ready,” she said.
She also said that preparing for the game against the Mustangs is all about trust.
“Just scouting and physically recovering,” Birmingham said. “Just getting our mind right and trusting each other, trusting our coaches.”
Some might say that the calls by the referees weren’t the greatest, as the game featured some chants from both sides about the referees.
“I didn’t think there were some awful calls,” Brown said. “I’m locked into the game where I don’t realize that unless it’s on me.”
No matter what, Birmingham said that the Lady Warriors are going to give it their all.
“I feel like there’s gonna be ups and downs in the game,” she said. “But you just have to stay cool the whole game… but I feel like we did a good job never settling [throughout the game].”
Tickets can be bought on the Iowa Events Center website for $14.
