Finberg resigns as boys basketball coach

Will remain girls coach

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It’s the end of an era in Columbia Falls boys basketball, as coach Cary Finberg has tendered his resignation after a long and distinguished career. Finberg will continue to coach the Columbia Falls girls team.

“It’s time,” Finberg said Thursday. “I gave a lot of years.”

By this time of year, Finberg typically is gearing up for another season, getting camps ready and hosting open gyms.

“But this year, it just wasn’t there,” he said.

Finberg was the head boys basketball coach here since 1997 and was an assistant coach for five years before that — three years in Columbia Falls and two in Dillon.

Finberg recently completed his 19th season as head coach. He has nine conference championships, nine divisional championships, five state Class A championships (2003, 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2014), and two second-place and four third-place finishes at state.

“I’m proud of what we accomplished,” he said.

This year, the Wildcats took third place at state, and that’s part of the problem, Finberg noted.

“It’s a no-win situation,” he said. “We take third and people are disappointed.”

He said he heard disappointment from fans and parents, and that wasn’t fair to the players who played a whale of a tournament, coming back from a double-digit deficit against Havre just to make it to the consolation final.

“I felt for (the players) this year,” he said.

Coaching both the girls and boys teams had no bearing on his decision to resign the boys post, he said.

Finberg said the future is bright for the Wildcat program. The freshmen team went undefeated last season.

“If they work hard, they have an opportunity to be successful,” he said.