Boys season could come down to Friday night

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team just needs to keep its focus on the game at hand. On Feb. 18, the boys beat Libby 53-31 away to cap an unbeaten conference record.

Now the focus is on winning the divisional tournament this Friday and Saturday and head into the state tournament with a No. 1 seed.

Coach Cary Finberg said the team needs to have the right mindset.

"We've got to go in with the right focus," he said. "We need to take care of business Friday night ... If we play like we're capable, good things are going to happen to us."

The Wildcats will open the divisional tournament Friday night at 6 p.m. at home against the winner of the Polson-Libby game.

The boys have beaten both teams this season, but Polson is more dangerous - the Cats beat the Pirates by just one point in Polson a few weeks ago.

The Cats were without a key player last week. Anthony Correa has been fighting pneumonia and didn't play against Libby. Finberg said he hopes Correa recovers by the end of this week.

Even in his absence, the team played well against the Loggers. Austin Barth continues to shine. He had 17 points and eight rebounds against Libby, and Brian Marcille had a career-high 13 points.

Parker Johnson had five points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists, and Luke Kazluaskas had six rebounds, five assists and no turnovers.

The Cats ended the regular season 8-0 in conference play and 15-3 overall.