Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: The Newell-Fonda girls basketball squad is in the girls state basketball tournament’s final round for the 12th time after Friday’s semifinal win.

DES MOINES — Not even one of the final unbeaten teams left standing in the state could slow down the Newell-Fonda girls basketball squad.

The No. 2 Mustangs punched their record 12th state championship game appearance here Thursday with a convincing 60-35 Class 1A semifinal victory over third-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s.

Newell-Fonda (24-2 overall) will now take on No. 1 North Linn (25-1), who knocked off fourth-ranked Council Bluffs St. Albert, 60-37, for the 1A title Saturday night at 7 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena.

The win put the Mustangs alone in second place with 32 victories at the state tournament all-time, trailing only Ankeny’s 43.

Kierra Jungers recorded a double-double, scoring a team-high 14 points with 11 rebounds. Kinzee Hinders added 13 and McKenna Sievers had 12 with seven assists. Jungers, Hinders and Sievers were a combined 17-for-26 from the field.

“This is super exciting,” Sievers said. “(Losing last year) is really pushing us to come out on top this year. We applied good pressure on defense and good ball movement on offense.

“We couldn’t settle and had to keep the tempo how we wanted it.”

Isabel Bartek added seven points and five assists for the Mustangs, who are 98-9 since back-to-back unbeaten seasons opened the run in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Remsen St. Mary’s (24-1) was led by Charmindee Ricke’s 12 points. Whitney Jensen and Mya Bunkers each added seven.

Much like they did in the quarterfinals earlier this week, Newell-Fonda jumped out early on the Hawks, taking a 21-6 lead after the first. They finished the opening half shooting 57 percent from the field with five made triples while scoring 15 points off 13 turnovers.

Over 64 minutes of game action this week, the Mustangs have trailed for a total of 26 seconds, including just 11 seconds vs. the Hawks. Their biggest lead of the game was 29 points early in the fourth.

“To come down here and find a way to win, it just feels really good,” NF head coach Dick Jungers said. “Down here, all the teams are good. You just never know how it’s going to turn out, but it turned out in our favor (Friday).”

Newell-Fonda has four state titles already in the trophy case back home to go along with five runner-up finishes, including last year. They have now reached six of the last seven championship games.

The only losses this year for the Mustangs came to Estherville-LC, the top-ranked team in 3A who will face Solon for the championship. The lone loss for the Lynx came to Clear Creek-Amana, who will play Waverly-Shell Rock for the 4A title.

North Linn, a regular at the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge alongside Newell-Fonda, won the 2A title in 2020 and was a runner-up in 2015. Molly Boge scored 16 points and Macy Boge added 12 in the semifinals, as the Lynx hit 11 three-pointers.

NEWELL-FONDA 60, REMSEN ST. MARY’S 35

Newell-Fonda — Greta Larsen 0-2 0-0 0, Isabel Bartek 2-4 2-2 7, McKenna Sievers 5-8 0-0 12, Kierra Jungers 7-11 0-0 14, Kinzee Hinders 5-7 3-5 13, Mareni Brabec 0-3 0-0 0, Jaicee Vanderhoff 1-3 0-0 3, Camryn Puhrmann 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Mercer 0-2 0-0 0, Rylee Hogrefe 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Vie 3-7 0-0 8, Jocee Walsh 1-3 1-2 3. Totals: 24-50 6-9 60.

Remsen St. Mary’s — Carmindee Ricke 4-9 2-6 12, Claire Schroeder 1-6 2-4 4, Whitney Jensen 2-11 3-4 7, Mya Bunkers 3-5 1-2 7, Halle Galles 0-4 1-2 1, Hallie Bunkers 1-4 2-4 4, Mia Matgen 0-1 0-0 0, Grace Galles 0-1 0-0 0, Jacie Homan 0-0 0-0 0, Tessa Tentinger 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 11-44 11-22.

Quarter scores: Newell-Fonda led 21-6, 37-16, 45-24. Three-point goals: Newell-Fonda 6-20 (Larsen 0-2, Bartek 1-2, Sievers 2-3, Jungers 0-1, Vanderhoff 1-3, Brabec 0-3, Vie 2-6), Remsen St. Mary’s 2-5 (Ricke 2-2, Jensen 0-2, H. Galles 0-1). Total rebounds: Newell-Fonda 31, Remsen St. Mary’s 35. Steals: Newell-Fonda 13, Remsen St. Mary’s 7. Blocked shots: Newell-Fonda 4, Remsen St. Mary’s 4. Turnovers: Newell-Fonda 13, Remsen St. Mary’s 20. Personal fouls: Newell-Fonda 16, Remsen St. Mary’s 11.