Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg knows the pitfalls associated with being a top seed.

“The No. 1 seed the last three years has been upset,” he said.

“We got Whitefish last year; in 2007 Libby beat us.”

And in 2008, Whitefish surprised Columbia Falls.

With that in mind, Columbia Falls opens the 2010 Northwestern A divisional tournament as the top seed. The Wildcats have enjoyed another banner season, going 16-2 overall and undefeated in league action (8-0).

Columbia Falls posted a 3-1 record versus Class AA competition and tangled with Class A power Dillon and Class B heavyweight Missoula Loyola.

That has tested the heart and desire of this Wildcat squad heading into the final weeks of the season.

“I thought our schedule was very good for us this year,” Finberg said.

“I’m not bothered by the fact we lost those games, I just hoped we would respond and get better from that. Those losses are a part of where we are right now.”

Which is at the top of their game.

“I think the kids kept the big picture in mind — that’s the state tournament and to get better every day,” Finberg said.

“We haven’t gone through a lull where we haven’t had the desire to play hard, and compete. Sometimes you get caught not ready to go, but this team hasn’t done that all season long.”

Columbia Falls “started out playing very good basketball,” which led to a 10-0 start. After back-to-back losses to Glacier (overtime) and Missoula Loyola, the Wildcats have now won six straight.

“Early on, we had some kids who played in the state championship game (last year) and their roles were different (this year),” Finberg said.

“It took us awhile to find out what we wanted out of each kid. Our chemistry has gotten better as the year has gone on.”

Columbia Falls will face the winner of today’s 8 p.m. Whitefish vs. Ronan contest on Friday at 6 p.m. With a five-team league this year, only one game will be played on the first day of the tournament at Glacier High.

Also watching today is Polson, the No. 2 seed, and Libby, seeded No. 3. They play Friday at 8 p.m.

“I just think it makes the tournament a little different,” Finberg said of only having the one game on Thursday.

“The tournament atmosphere suffers a little bit. It’s more like a play-in game. I would rather get back to a three-day tournament where nobody gets a bye.”

 Columbia Falls will also be the only team playing Friday that will face a team that has already played a tournament game.

“I guess you don’t really get rewarded (for winning the regular-season title),” Finberg said.

“That’s the bad part of a five-team tournament.”

Another troubling item for Columbia Falls to deal with will be an eight-day layoff between games.

“Again, another negative thing of not playing Thursday,” he said.

“You can’t control the things you can’t control,” he added.

“The one thing we can control is to be ready to play Friday night.”

Columbia Falls has advanced to state six out of the last eight years, missing out in 2007-08. Five of those years, Columbia Falls has played on Saturday night. That has led to three state titles, while placing second once and third once.

Also advancing to state from Northwestern A last year was Whitefish, which eliminated Polson in a challenge game.

 Boys Schedule

Two teams

advance to state

Today

8 p.m. — Whitefish vs. Ronan 

Friday

6 p.m. — Columbia Falls vs. winner game 1

8 — Libby vs. Polson