Ava Carlson - Norwalk senior (Photo courtesy of Bakerink Visuals)

The Norwalk girls basketball team erased an eight-point third-quarter deficit and held off Des Moines Christian 54-52 in a non-conference matchup of highly-ranked teams on Thursday night. The game was played at Des Moines Christian High School.

The No. 4 in Class 4A Warriors trailed the No. 2 in Class 3A Lions for much of the game. Des Moines Christian, which entered the contest on a 15-game winning streak, led by 11 points in the second quarter, 31-23 at halftime and 35-27 with three minutes left in the third. Norwalk rallied behind solid defense, taking the lead for good, 50-48, on Braylyn Birmingham’s steal and layup with less than a minute to go. They made four free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory, improving to 16-2 overall.

Birmingham finished with a game-high 31 points for the Warriors, making 16-of-18 free throws. As a team, Norwalk shot 21-for-26 at the charity stripe. Makenna Roeder scored eight points while Pearl Brown and Hannah Overholser added five apiece. Addy Oetker led three Lions in double figures with 19 points as Des Moines Christian dropped to 17-3 on the season.

The Norwalk girls will have the weekend off before returning to action on Monday night for a non-conference game at Waukee starting at 7:00 p.m.