The Norwalk basketball teams traveled to Council Bluffs to sweep Lewis Central on Tuesday in games heard live on 94.3 KNIA and the KNIA3 stream. The girls team won 66-30 and moved to 6-0, while the boys team won 46-37 and moved to 2-2.

The girls game was never in doubt as the Warrior girls finished the first quarter 21-4 and never let up. Led by the state’s leading scorer, Braylyn Birmingham’s 34 points, which is her second-highest total of the season, the Warriors recorded 18 offensive rebounds to the Titans’ six. They outrebounded them 31-18 in total. Birmingham also had a game-high nine rebounds. Ava Carlson was the other double-figure Norwalk scorer as she recorded 11 points. Norwalk unofficially forced 25 Lewis Central turnovers.

The boys game was more dramatic, as usual. The Warriors got out to a 12-4 start to end the first quarter, but the Titans slowly gained ground throughout the game, trailing by four points at one point. The Warriors held the Titans at arm’s length with some late free throws to take the nightcap by nine points. They were led in scoring by junior Tillman Papcun’s 25 points. He also had a team-high six rebounds. Audric Pelzer followed in the scoring category with nine points. Lewis Central’s Carter Thielen, the state’s leader in made free throws per game, went 4-8 from the free-throw line. He finished with 15 points while no other Titan scored more than nine. 

Both Norwalk basketball teams will be back in action on Friday for a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader against Indianola that will be played at home. Those games can be heard live on 94.3 KNIA and KNIA3, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m. Norwalk will finish out basketball in 2025 this weekend, in separate non-conference matchups.