Submitted photo: The Newell-Fonda girls basketball team poses with their state tournament qualifying banner after Wednesday’s win in a Class 1A regional final.

CHEROKEE — The pressure defense applied by the Newell-Fonda girls is tough for most opponents to handle.

George-Little Rock found that out the hard way here Wednesday night, as the second-ranked (Class 1A) Mustangs earned a ninth consecutive trip to the state tournament with a 71-36 victory.

Newell-Fonda (21-2 overall), the 1A runner-up a year ago, will now take on No. 14 Saint Ansgar (20-4) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. from the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

Ellie Sievers scored 17 points, Rylee Hogrefe and Jocee Walsh each added 11, and Quinn Sievers chipped in 10 for the Mustangs. Ten different N-F players scored.

“We put a lot of different kids in there and all those kids stepped up,” N-F head coach Dick Jungers said. “They made plays and I’m proud of them. They are a nice group of experienced kids mixed with new ones and I just can’t speak highly enough about our senior leadership.

“They’re great leaders and have worked the young kids in.”

For George-Little Rock (19-5), Lindsey Haken had a game-high 24 points, with 18 coming in the second half when the game was out of reach.

Newell-Fonda turned a 10-point lead into a 43-15 advantage on the heels of a 19-1 run in the second quarter. Ellie Sievers had 14 of her 17 in the first half.

The Mustangs shot 27 of 58 from the field and made seven 3-pointers.

Mareni Brabec, Camryn Puhrmann, Ava Vie and Walsh are seniors for N-F. The quartet has been part of 91 wins over the last four seasons, including three state championship-game appearances.

Under Jungers, the Mustangs have won four titles since 2015 and made the finals seven of the last eight years overall.

“We really came out strong on the defensive side with a lot of pressure,” Jungers said. “I liked the pace of the game. Once the kids settled in, the shots started falling.

“A win this time of year is always a good one.”

Saint Ansgar advanced with a 52-49 victory over No. 8 Gladbrook-Reinbeck.