The countdown of Norwalk’s top 10 sports stories of the 2022-23 school year continues today with number 6: the Warrior boys basketball team’s 16-game winning streak taking them all the way to Wells Fargo Arena.

The streak began in early January and reached its peak the final day of February when Norwalk overcame an early 15-3 deficit to beat Sioux City East 64-58 in a Class 4A Substate final played at Denison.

Senior Jack Brown hit five 3-pointers and junior Redek Born made all 14 of his free throw attempts on the way to a team-high 25 points. Despite digging an early hole, the Warriors led 35-32 at halftime and hit some big shots down the stretch to clinch the program’s first trip to the State Tournament since the 2020 team brought home the 3A championship. Brown, Born and Braeden Carlson all had older brothers on the title winner.

Second-year head coach Aaron Pelzer was beaming with pride following Norwalk’s substate victory. He later stated that he never once questioned the Warriors’ toughness, effort or energy level during their 16-game ride.

“To get it done with such a good group of guys that work so hard and put their trust in us as coaches, it feels really special,” Pelzer said. “Norwalk loves basketball, and it’s so awesome to be able to put a good product out there that makes not only the players’ families proud, but our community proud and our school proud. I think this group represents Norwalk extremely well.”

The Warriors rallied once again in their 4A state quarterfinal matchup with eventual champion West Des Moines Valley, but ultimately fell short in a 63-48 defeat. They finished the season with an overall record of 20-4. Born led the team with 18.4 points and 4.9 assists per game. Carlson averaged 14.6 points and 8 rebounds.

The team graduated seven seniors, including a pair of starters in Carlson and Brown.