Cats ready to hit the hardwood

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team will have something this season it hasn't had in years, not even when it won the state championship in 2002.

Depth.

"This is the deepest team I've ever had," said coach Cary Finberg. "It's a luxury I've never had."

While the squad lost six seniors, it also has nine kids coming back who saw a lot of varsity minutes last season.

Drew Perry, J.D. Fields, Kevin Boyer, Guy Smith, Anthony Minson, Jace Ladenburg, Robbie Dakin, Steffen Anderson, Nick Beckwith, Greg Macijunas and Justin Heinrichs are all expected to contribute quality minutes.

Take one out, put one in, you don't lose much.

"These guys are used to winning, and they expect it to continue," Finberg said.

The boys played a lot of summer ball together, too, which helps team chemistry, Finberg notes.

"The big thing is they're extremely hard workers, and they love basketball," Finberg said. "They're a bunch of gym rats that love to play and compete."

Last year, the team made it to state for the third year in a row but lost both games. The expectation is higher this year, though this looks to be a tough conference, and only two teams will go this year after re-alignment,

Columbia Falls is now in the north conference, with Libby, Whitefish, Bigfork, Polson and Ronan.

Bigfork and Ronan are expected to be particularly tough. Both have a host of returning players.

Frenchtown, Stevensville, Corvallis, Hamilton, Anaconda and Dillon will make the south conference.

"It's going to be a tough conference, and that divisional tournament will be huge," Finberg said.

Last year, the Cats were 9-5 in conference and 10-8 overall. This year, they open the season at home Dec. 4 against Cut Bank.

It should be a good test for the Cats.

"They're a B school, but they're a quality B-school," Finberg said. "They're used to winning, and we're used to winning."

Game time is 5 p.m. for varsity. The Cats then travel to the Western A tourney in Hamilton on Dec. 10.

This year they've also picked up a game against AA Hellgate on top of their two games against Flathead.

Assisting Finberg this year are Chris Finberg, Mark Beckwith (JV coach), Dan Block (frosh coach) and Greg Bauska.