The Norwalk basketball teams cruised to a Little Hawkeye Conference sweep over Pella Christian heard live on 92.1 KRLS and on the KNIA3 stream Friday night. The Class 4A #3 Warrior girls downed the Eagles 69-17, while the Norwalk boys defeated Pella Christian 56-29.
The Warrior girls controlled the opening game of the doubleheader from start to finish, racing out to a 14-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 35-7 advantage at halftime. In the second half, Norwalk outscored the Eagles 34-10 to secure the 52-point victory. Warriors sophomore Braylyn Birmingham led all scorers in the game with 23 points, while seniors Pearl Brown and Hannah Overholser added 14 and 13 points respectively. Addie Van Arendonk led the Eagle girls in scoring with nine points. Norwalk head coach Joe Sigrist said that he was thrilled with his squad’s defensive effort in the win.
“We play at such a fast pace that sometimes it’s hard to hold teams down below 20, but our defense was on point tonight. A great collective team effort. Limiting them to one shot or no shots, your defense is going to be successful when you do that.”
Like the girls game, the Warrior boys controlled the nightcap from beginning to end. Norwalk jumped out to a 16-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, then carried a 31-10 advantage into halftime. The Warriors continued to roll in the second half, outscoring Pella Christian 25-19 in the final 16 minutes of play. Norwalk junior Tillman Papcun led all scorers with 20 points, while fellow junior Audric Pelzer had 16 points and sophomore Andrew Abbott added 11. Gilbert Flagel was the lone Eagles player to finish in double figures in the loss, scoring 16 points. Pella Christian head coach Joe Steinkamp said that they will look to use the loss as an opportunity to grow as a team.
“Probably just more than anything, we learned about what it’s gonna be like going against that kind of pressure and that kind of ball movement. So, we just gotta get a lot better in a lot of areas and we’re still trying to figure out the guy’s roles and trying to fit guys into the best spots for them. So, we’re still a work in progress.”
The Norwalk girls improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while the boys moved to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Both Warriors squads return to action on Tuesday, traveling to Lewis Central for a doubleheader. The Pella Christian girls fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while the boys dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference. Both Eagles teams return to the court on Monday, traveling to Des Moines Christian for a doubleheader.