—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Newell-Fonda’s Ella Larsen shoots over Council Bluffs St. Albert’s Keely Socha during a Class 1A quarterfinal on Wednesday inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

DES MOINES — The Newell-Fonda girls made quick work of Saint Ansgar here Friday, advancing to their third consecutive Class 1A championship game.

Shortly there after, the top-ranked Mustangs sat in the stands at Wells Fargo Arena and watched as Bishop Garrigan earned their spot opposite them in Saturday’s final.

Tip is set for 7 p.m.

Both teams had seemingly easy times with their respective opponents in the semis, using pressure defense and speed to win by a combined 83 points.

But that’s been the case all season for Newell-Fonda (26-0 overall) and the Golden Bears (25-1).

Coming into this week, the Mustangs were winning games by over 40 points a night. They are unbeaten over the past two seasons, carrying a 53-game win streak into tonight.

Despite all of that, Newell-Fonda and one of its leaders, Ella Larsen, know they will face quite the challenge in Bishop Garrigan.

“Garrigan is a very sound team,” Larsen said. “They have a few fast people and some bigs down low.”

Larsen, a returning starter from last year, is one of six players averaging double figures through two tourney games. As a collective unit, Newell-Fonda is averaging 80 points at state, up from their leading 77.7 per game coming in.

Garrigan, of course, features several upperclassmen and a fantastic freshmen duo in Audi Crooks and Molly Joyce. Larsen, who is familiar herself with stepping in at a young age to the lineup, knows where the keys for the championship will be.

“They are a strong rebounding team,” Larsen added. “We will have to come out being able to box-out.”

Newell-Fonda has reached the finals nine times now, scoring two titles under head coach Dick Jungers.

Bishop Garrigan is in the championship round for the first time as a school, having won its first game at state earlier this week. The Golden Bear boys also qualified and will compete next week here in 1A.