One of the Flathead Valley’s most legendary high school coaches is stepping down.
On Thursday, Columbia Falls High School boys’ basketball coach Cary Finberg handed in his letter of resignation. He guided the team to five Class A championships in 19 seasons.
While Finberg will no longer be coaching the Wildcats, he will remain at the helm of the girls basketball team.
On Friday afternoon, Finberg told the Beacon that he made the decision to step down just last week.
“I usually give myself a few weeks to recharge the batteries after a season but this year those batteries just didn’t charge,” he said. “I wasn’t as excited as I was in the past and I decided that this was it.”
Finberg was the boys’s basketball assistant coach before taking the top spot on the sidelines in 1997. Since then, he has guided the team to state championships in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2014. The boys team ended its 2014-2015 season with a third place finish in the Class A tournament and an overall season record of 20-4.
Finberg has been coach of the Wildkats since 2011 and is one of a small number of coaches in the state to have led both girls and boys basketball teams at the same time. He said his decision to stay with the girls team was due in large part to the fact that his daughter, Cydney Finberg, will be playing on the team for the next two years.
“I really want to get the girls team to an elite level and so I’m going to give them all my attention to take them there,” he said.
The search for a new boys’ coach is expected to begin almost immediately and Finberg said he hopes one of his assistant coaches steps up to take the top position.
“It was a great run,” he said of his time leading the Wildcats. “Columbia Falls is a great place to coach.”