The Norwalk Warriors take another shot at West Des Moines Valley tonight with a trip to the Boys State Basketball Tournament on the line.

The Warriors and 2nd-ranked Tigers will square off in the Class 4A, Substate 2 title game at Des Moines Lincoln High School. Pregame coverage on 94.3 KNIA and KNIA3 starts at 6:45 p.m. and opening tip at the Roundhouse is set for 7:00.

Tonight marks the third meeting in 12 months between the 18-5 Warriors and 17-5 Tigers. West Des Moines Valley defeated Norwalk 63-48 in last year’s 4A state quarterfinals en route to winning a state championship. Valley also won a regular-season game at Norwalk this past December, 51-41.

Warrior head coach Aaron Pelzer tells KNIA Sports that Valley is a really good basketball team with multiple NCAA Division I players. Pelzer says that Norwalk must do a much better job in the rebounding department against Valley, limiting the Tigers’ offensive rebounds and second chance points. He also says the Warriors must go into the game with confidence in themselves.

“We don’t have to beat them in a seven-game series. It’s not the NBA,” Pelzer said. “We’ve got to be better than them on one night, and I have the confidence with the guys in (our) locker room that we can be better than them on one night. I know our guys will fight like crazy and play as hard as they possibly can.”

Valley’s top six players all average at least 9.6 points per game, led by junior guard Curtis Stinson’s 19.7 scoring average and junior Zay Robinson’s 16.7. Six-foot-9 junior Trevin Jirak, also a junior, averages 10.1 points and 7.7 rebounds while blocking 38 shots. Kiki Deng and Kyle Cason lead the team with 35 and 34 made 3-pointers, respectively.

The Warriors reached the substate final with wins of 72-37 over Des Moines Lincoln and 69-52 at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson. Senior guard Redek Born led Norwalk with 27 points against TJ while Grady Sigrist and Aidan Harder combined for eight 3-pointers and 29 points.

The Warriors are seeking the program’s 10th trip overall to the state tournament and the fifth since 2018.