There was a little déjà vu at the 2026 Iowa high school girls basketball state tournament.
Last season, Norwalk earned a spot in the tournament as the No. 4 seed, and they faced off against Central DeWitt in the quarterfinals. The Warriors (22-2) are back this season – this time as the No. 3 seed – but once again took on the Sabers in the quarterfinals.
Last season, Norwalk beat Central DeWitt for a spot in the semifinals.
And this season, the Warriors came out on top again, beating the Sabers, 50-37, on Tuesday, March 3. They’ll take on No. 2-seed Dallas Center-Grimes in a semifinal matchup on Thursday, March 5.
“I kind of like it, because we knew what they had,” Norwalk head coach Joe Sigrist said about the rematch with Central DeWitt. “Both teams lost a key senior…but everybody else was a year more experienced and a year better.”
The Warriors won last year’s matchup on a buzzer-beating, second-chance shot from Pearl Brown. This year, it didn’t come down to the wire.
“Double-digit win, eight days of the week,” he responded when asked about which game-ending scenario he preferred.
The Warriors jumped out to an early lead, going 2-of-3 from long range and outscoring Central DeWitt by five points. That gave Norwalk a bit of padding in the second quarter, when it scored two field goals on 13 attempts. Fortunately for the Warriors, the Sabers managed just six points in the second frame and went to the locker room trailing by eight points.
Norwalk held Central DeWitt without a field goal in the final 3:20 of the first half, but the Sabers got the first basket out of the break. The Warriors didn’t score for the first two minutes, until Brown ended the drought in spectacular fashion – a 3-pointer turned four-point play with the successful free throw after.
Shortly after, sophomore Braylyn Birmingham made two free throws to give Norwalk a 12-point lead.
The Warriors extended that lead to 15 points late in the fourth quarter, and by then Norwalk’s spot in the semifinals was secure. Birmingham led the way with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Brown added 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.
“(Birmingham) is mature beyond her years,” Sigrist said. “To have a sophomore play at that high a level is just not normal. And when you have one of the best scorers in the state, one of the best defenders in the state in Pearl, you’ve got a shot in every game.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Norwalk tops Central DeWitt, advances Iowa girls basketball semifinals
Reporting by Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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