Boys team putting last year in rear view mirror

The Columbia Falls basketball team has left the bad taste of last season behind them and has hopes for a state tournament berth this year.

Under first-year head coach Chris Finberg, the team’s practices look like the practices of the old days — focusing on technique and discipline.

The Cats went 4-17 last season under a disastrous tenure by rookie coach John Anderson, but had more talent than their record would suggest.

Finberg is pleased with the team’s progress so far.

“A lot of our guys have varsity experience,” he said last week. “I have a good feel for them and they have a good feel for me.”

Finberg was a longtime assistant under former head coach Cary Finberg, his uncle, who led the program to five state A championships.

His starting lineup includes returning starters DJ Schrade, Austin Green, Dakota Bridwell, Steven DeCamp and Logan Stephens. Juniors Mason Tucker and Matthew Morrison will also see plenty of minutes as well.

They’ve got some solid senior leadership. Bridwell led the football team to its first state A championship in 46 years and Stephens led the soccer team in scoring as he helped lead the squad to its first playoff run in years.

DeCamp and Green were also standout football players and Schrade can be deadly from outside with his three-point shot.

The Cats will run a zone defense this year, with some traps in the mix, Finberg said, which harkens back to the teams of old.

It will be an uphill grind.

“We’re really going to have to improve to make it to state,” Finberg said. “But that’s our goal.”

In the Northwest A conference, Polson is the team to beat, while Dillon and Butte Central always have good teams in the Southwest.

The Cats open their season on Saturday at home against Corvallis. Varsity game time is 4:30 p.m.

Finberg is assisted by Brandon Rice, Mike Dyon and volunteer assistant Nick Emerson, who led them to a state championship as a player for the Cats in 2011.