Messenger photo by Britt Kudla The Newell-Fonda girls celebrate their Class 1A championship last March in Des Moines.

NEWELL — High expectations surround the Newell-Fonda girls once again this year, as the Mustangs begin their march to a third consecutive Class 1A state title.

Coming off back-to-back unbeaten campaigns, Newell-Fonda and head coach Dick Jungers graduated just one player from last season.

Led by seniors Maggie Walker, Bailey Sievers and Ella Larsen, along with junior Macy Sievers, the Mustangs will once again be the hunted in 1A.

“We will have a variety of options we can rely on in key situations,” Jungers said. “It is nice to know that we will be able to go to different players depending on the situation. We can go inside or outside. We have a lot of kids that can knock down shots so that will give us opportunities to score at moments when we need a basket.

“We will have to take care of the basketball and be able to identify where to go with the ball, and take what the defense gives us.”

Newell-Fonda had no trouble scoring last year, averaging almost 78 points per game. They won another Twin Lakes Conference title and edged Bishop Garrigan in a thrilling championship contest.

Macy Sievers led the Mustangs at 14.6 points per game, sinking 26 three-pointers and shooting 40 percent from deep as a sophomore. Walker posted 13 points with both Bailey Sievers and Larsen averaging over 10 a night.

Larsen also had 149 rebounds, 116 steals and 112 assists with Macy Sievers adding 122 assists, 99 rebounds nad 89 assists. As a team, Newell-Fonda made 222 three-pointers, recorded 555 steals and had 515 assists on 803 made field goals.

“This team is quick and aggressive,” Jungers said. “Our kids work hard and they strive to get better every day and that will be the difference for us. We will need to find ways to use our quickness to our advantage and make things more challenging for other teams.

“The good thing about our schedule is that we will get to play a lot of very good teams so our kids will have to play against a lot of quality players and teams with varied styles.”

Jungers has led the Mustangs to 393 wins and state titles in 2015, ’19 and ’20 along with four runner-up finishes including in 2018.