Following a full week of practice and preparation, the Norwalk boys basketball team is primed for its first state tournament game in three years.
The fifth-seeded Warriors will face fourth-seeded West Des Moines Valley today in a Class 4A state quarterfinal at 3:45 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The game can be heard live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3), with Mike Oeffner, Steve Wermerskirchen and Chris Larson on the call.
Norwalk, a winner of 16 straight games, enters state with a 20-3 overall record and was this year’s runner-up in the Little Hawkeye Conference at 11-3. Valley is 18-5 overall and one of four state qualifiers from the Central Iowa Metro League. The Tigers placed third in the CIML with a 12-4 record.
Norwalk coach Aaron Pelzer calls Valley the most athletic team the Warriors have faced all season, adding that it is impossible to simulate the Tigers’ speed in practice.
“They’re the most athletic team in the state. I’ve watched enough film to say that with confidence,” Pelzer said. “Usually four out of the five spots they’re extremely athletic, and then the other spot is usually a big kid. They have a 6’8” sophomore [Trevin Jirak] that is a really skilled post player, and then they bring some football guys off the bench that are really good athletes too.”
Valley features a sophomore-heavy lineup and an extremely balanced scoring attack as six Tigers average between 13.1 and 7.1 points per game Sophomore Curtis Stinson is the top scorer and also averages 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Sophomore Zay Robinson and senior Trevian Carson also boast double-digit scoring averages and two other players are just below 10 ppg.
Norwalk’s scoring leader is junior guard Redek Born, who averages 18.7 points and 4.9 assists. Senior Braeden Carlson adds 14.6 points and 8 rebounds a game, followed by junior Aidan Harder at 9.8 ppg and senior Jack Brown 8.8 with a team-high 49 three-pointers.
Coach Pelzer says the Warriors will try to stick to their game plan and neutralize Valley’s athleticism by the way they execute. He knows his team will play hard and tough for 32 minutes. The big keys in an expected defensive battle will be limiting Valley’s dribble penetration and offensive rebounds and simply making open shots with consistency.
“We’re going to have to take advantage of our opportunities, make open shots, share the ball, and then we’ll have to have some bounces go our way too,” Pelzer said.
Today’s Norwalk-Valley winner will advance to the 4A semifinals and play either top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy or Pleasant Valley tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.