On Tuesday night, the Norwalk boys basketball team avoided an upset to keep their win streak alive, rallying past ADM 53-50 for their 13th consecutive victory. Tonight, the Norwalk girls basketball team will try to play spoiler when they open Class 4A regional play at Bondurant-Farrar.
The Class 4A sixth-ranked Warrior boys were on the ropes Tuesday, trailing the visiting Tigers by six points early in the third quarter and 41-37 entering the fourth. Norwalk leaned heavily on its defensive prowess down the stretch, outscoring ADM 16-9 in the final stanza. A defensive rebound and free throw by Aidan Harder with one second left sealed the win as the Warriors improved to 17-3 overall. The game was heard live on 94.3 KNIA and live streamed on the Warrior Productions YouTube channel.
Unofficially, Braeden Carlson led Norwalk with 14 points, Redek Born scored 13 and Harder added all 10 of his points in the second half. ADM, which played exceptionally well on both ends of the floor for most of the night, fell to 10-11 overall. Vince Benetti was a force inside for the Tigers with 15 points and Adam Bryte hit some big jump shots in scoring 13.
Norwalk coach Aaron Pelzer tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that his team simply found a way to win. Pelzer says that ADM was physically and mentally the tougher team for most of the night, adding that it was good to be tested with postseason play right around the corner. Weather permitting, the Warriors will close out regular season play at Dowling Catholic Thursday night.
WARRIOR GIRLS OPEN REGIONAL PLAY
The Norwalk girls will try to keep their season alive tonight when they travel to Bondurant-Farrar for a Class 4A, Region 2 quarterfinal at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 94.3 KNIA as well as kniakrls.com. Pregame coverage starts at approximately 6:45.
The Warriors finished the regular season with back-to-back lopsided wins over Newton and Oskaloosa to improve to 6-15 overall. The Bluejays are 11-9, and had won five straight games prior to last Tuesday’s 64-49 loss to 2nd-ranked North Polk. The same two teams met in the second round of last year’s playoffs, with Bondurant-Farrar winning 67-38.
Norwalk coach Jill Martin tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that her squad is excited for a fresh start in the postseason with a 0-0 record and hopes to build off the momentum of two straight wins.
“I think it’s huge, especially for being so young and kind of the season we’ve had – the ups and downs,” Martin said. “But our effort has always been there, and now it’s getting a little more consistent. And again, there’s something to be said about wins.”
Martin calls the Bluejays a great team from a solid Raccoon River Conference that plays well together and presents challenges with their zone defense. Junior Chesney Steenhoek leads Bondurant-Farrar with 13.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Norwalk is led by sophomore Bailey Birmingham, who averages 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Tonight’s winner will play at 14th-ranked Indianola (10-11) on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.