The motto on the back of Norwalk’s boys basketball warmups perfectly summarized the 2022-2023 season. Different roles, same goals. The final goal achieved by this year’s Warriors was a trip to the Boys State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines.

Norwalk finished 20-4 overall, placed second in the Little Hawkeye Conference with an 11-3 record, and capped a 16-game winning streak with a 64-58 substate final win over Sioux City East. The Warriors lost to eventual champion West Des Moines Valley in the Class 4A state quarterfinals, making their first state tourney appearance since winning the 3A championship in 2020.

Second-year head coach Aaron Pelzer tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that this year’s Norwalk squad was one that hung their collective hat on hard-nosed defense, relentless energy and a team-first attitude. During their 16-game streak, Pelzer says he can’t remember a team bringing the type of consistent energy and effort to the court every night – with no letdowns – like this year’s Warriors.

“They always played as hard as they could, they were always tough, and those are the things that we asked of them – and kind of demanded of them – because on nights when shots don’t fall you have to be those things,” he said. “We were able to win some games where we didn’t shoot as well because we were tough and we played hard, and they did that extremely consistently over the course of the last three-fourths of the season.”

Norwalk’s individual leader was junior guard Redek Born, who was named first team All-State, All-District and All-Conference following the season. Born paced the Little Hawkeye with 18.6 points and 4.9 assists per game, making 40 three-pointers and 108 free throws. Senior Braeden Carlson averaged 14.3 points and 8 rebounds and was also recognized as first team All-District and All-Conference.

Second team All-Conference honors went to senior Jack Brown and junior Aidan Harder. Brown averaged 8.8 points and led the team with 52 made threes. Harder scored 9.8 points per night and led the way with 46 steals.

The Warriors will graduate seven seniors in Carlson, Brown, Ian Fisher, Austin Mills, Will Patterson, Landon Edwards and Camiel De Vre. Coach Pelzer praised the entire senior group for all buying into their roles – a trait he hopes will rub off on the underclassmen. Pelzer says that Norwalk now firmly believes it is a program that belongs in the Class 4A ranks, adding that the Warriors aren’t going away any time soon.