Returning three starters from a Class 4A state tournament qualifier last March, the Norwalk boys basketball team opens a new season tonight with a home game against Ballard. The non-conference doubleheader begins with the varsity girls game at 6:15 p.m., followed by the boys game at approximately 7:45. Both contests can be heard live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3), with pregame coverage starting at 6:00.
The Warrior boys had a season to remember in 2022-2023, riding a 16-game winning streak all the way to the state tourney, where they were defeated by eventual 4A champion West Des Moines Valley in the first round. The Warriors finished 20-4 overall and were the Little Hawkeye Conference runner-up to Indianola.
Norwalk brings back three starters in senior guard Redek Born, senior forward Aidan Harder and junior forward Cameron Thomas. Junior guard Grady Sigrist saw significant playing time off the bench.
Born, who has signed with the University of Northern Iowa, earned all-state honors last season after averaging 18.6 points, 4.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. He drilled 40 three-pointers and was a force off the dribble as well, which led to 108 free throws in 128 attempts. Harder was also an inside-outside threat, hitting 36 treys and averaging just below 10 points to go along with a team-high 46 steals. Norwalk coach Aaron Pelzer says that both players are excellent leaders, adding that Born is a tremendous communicator on the floor.
Unfortunately, the Warriors won’t be at full strength to start the season. Harder will likely miss a number of early-season games while recovering from a hand injury and Born is questionable for tonight’s opener. That will lead to increased roles for Thomas and Sigrist offensively, along with juniors Mason Johnson, Jack Larson and Kaleb Foltz. Coach Pelzer is excited to see how some of his new varsity players respond.
“We’re trying to figure out who is going to be healthy and what our rotation will look like,” he said. “You know what though? Nobody is going to feel sorry for us; and we’re not going to feel sorry, we’re not going to make excuses. We’ll go out there and we’ll play hard and compete with whoever we have available.”
Some strengths of the team, Pelzer says, will be athleticism and quickness, defense, ball movement on offense, and everyone buying into the same team goals. One of Pelzer’s top goals is to win the Little Hawkeye Conference title, which is a tall order with “no nights off” in the league, he says. An even bigger goal is to replicate what last year’s team did and have the Warriors playing their best basketball at the end of the season.
“Ultimately, beyond the wins and losses I just want to be playing as well as we can possibly play at the end of the year,” Pelzer said. “I think that’s my goal every year.”
Norwalk opens conference play on Friday night at Pella and will play nine games prior to this year’s holiday break.