After more than 20 years coaching, including 10 as the Columbia Falls boys varsity basketball coach, Chris Finberg has retired.

On Monday, Austin Barth, who has been the freshman coach, was approved as the new varsity coach.

“It’s nice on my end knowing someone who worked under me is taking over,” Finberg said.

The Wildcats  went 15-6 this year, but failed to reach the state basketball tournament. They had a similar result the year before.

Finberg said after two decades of coaching he was “kind of burned out.”

Coaching comes with a host of duties outside the realm of the regular season. There’s camps to be run and open gyms and the like. Finberg also has two young girls and he’s staying in the coaching ranks, but this time thoroughly enjoying coaching his daughter’s 8-U softball team.

Finberg also coached football for a few years as an assistant coach and was also a basketball assistant for a couple years at Butte Central.

He was a standout basketball player for the Wildcats and spent the early part of his tenure rebuilding the boys basketball program after a dismal showing the year before when the school hired John Anderson for a season to coach to the team.

Finberg was an assistant under his uncle Cary Finberg for four years and was a volunteer assistant from 2005-06. He also was an assistant for two years at Butte Central in 2007 and 2008.

Finberg coached the junior varsity team in 2015, when the boys went 16-3 before taking the Wildcat head coaching job.

As an assistant with Cary, the boys won state championships in ‘05-’06 and in ‘11 and ‘14.

Barth was also a standout player for the Wildcats in football and basketball. He played for Montana State University as its long snapper, one of the few D-I players in Columbia Falls history in any sport.

Both Finberg and Barth are members of the Wildcat Hall of Fame.

Finberg teaches physical education at the high school and will continue to do so. Barth teaches physical education at the junior high.

The program has some talent to build on next year, with players Jory Hill, Jett Pitts and Rhett Lindskoog all expected to return as seniors.