Boys basketball team reloads for another season

The goal is pretty simple for the Columbia Falls boys basketball team - make it back to the state tournament.

"We have a good team coming back," coach Cary Finberg said last week. "We feel we can put ourselves in a position to get back to the state tournament."

The Cats are led by 6-foot-7 senior Austin Barth. Barth has always been solid under the basket - he's played varsity ball since his freshman year - but he's also developed a perimeter shot.

The Cats also return seniors Parker Johnson, Brian Marcille, Ronnie Gallegos and Anthony Correa.

"We return the second, third and fourth leading scorers from last year's state championship team," Finberg said.

Juniors Luke Kazlauskas, Austin Martin and Colin King will also be key players. Sophomores Alex Presnell and Jared Trinastich are solid who should see varsity time. Look for Johnson and Gallegos to share time at the point, with Presnell also filling in.

Last year's state title was the Cats' fourth in the last nine years. This year's team will be tested early and often. The boys face Dillon to open the season Dec. 9 at the Western A tip-off tournament. The Cats beat the Beavers in the state title game last year. The Beavers lost just one player from their squad, Finberg noted.

"Dillon will be the pre-season favorite," Finberg said.

The next day, the boys will face Stevensville, one of the top-five teams in the state.

The Dillon game will be at home starting at 8 p.m. The Stevensville game will be in Whitefish at 1 p.m. The tournament will be split between the two venues.

The conference should also be more competitive with Frenchtown in the mix, and Polson should be solid again this year. The Cats also will play AA Flathead twice this year and AA Glacier once.

Finberg is assisted by J.D. Fields and Christopher Finberg. Christopher will coach the junior varsity squad, and Fields will coach the freshmen team. Greg Bauska assists the varsity program.