Girls basketball team a blend of veterans and youth
Onnikka Lawrence dishes a pass to Rylee Sweeney during practice last week.
With almost all of the team returning and a host of young talent, Columbia Falls girls basketball should be right in the mix come tournament time this season.
Last season the girls just missed a state tourney berth as they lost a play-in game to Laurel. They ended with a 13-9 record. This season they return top scorers senior Hope McAtee and junior Taryn Borgen. McAtee and Emalee Alton also led the team in rebounds.
The girls will need to be road warriors this first half of the season, as they don’t have a home game until Jan. 13, when they play Whitefish.
They opened the season against Hamilton Tuesday after presstime.
“It’s the type of schedule we want,” said coach Cary Finberg, now in his 13th season coaching the girls. “It will be fun to see how they meet the challenge. I think our potential is pretty good. We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”
The squad also returns Kierra Kemppainen, Ellie Stutsman, Demye Rensel, Anj LaChance and Addy Bowler. Maddie Moultray, who played as a freshman, will see some time as a senior. Moultray is an excellent athlete and will play college softball in Indiana after graduation.
The early schedule will be a great test. In addition to Hamilton, they face Dillon, Loyola, Ronan, Frenchtown and Bigfork on the road.
This is Finberg’s 13th season coaching the girls program, where he has a 229-53 record. He coached the boys for 19 years with a 298-138 record. He is assisted by daughters Cydney and Ciera Finberg, Zach Levitt and Steve Kracher.
Ciera coaches the JV squad and Levitt the freshmen.