The Norwalk boys basketball team will face a challenging schedule leading up to the Christmas break, starting with Tuesday’s non-conference season opener at Ballard.

Six of the Warriors’ first seven opponents enjoyed winning seasons in 2023-2024 and five advanced to at least the Substate finals. Among that group, West Des Moines Valley won its second consecutive Class 4A state championship while Ballard and Pella both advanced to the 3A state tournament. Winterset and Pella Christian both ended their season just one game shy of State.

Norwalk head coach Aaron Pelzer tells KNIA Sports that the Warriors certainly have a difficult early schedule in front of them with a new group of players in new roles. The goal, Pelzer says, is to keep taking steps forward while trying to win every single game in front of them.

“We’ve got to keep getting better,” he said. “Early on, you never know what you’re going to get. I have not gone into a game situation with this group of guys ever. A lot of it will be concentrating and focusing on just continual improvement, making sure we stay together as a group, and then I think as we kind of see how those first couple games go, then it’s a little bit easier to kind of target what we want out of those first seven games before Christmas.”

Pelzer adds that one of his biggest concerns going into the season is rebounding. The Warriors will be outsized by some of their early opponents, and a big key, Pelzer says, will be rebounding as a team with all five guys on the floor needing to contribute.