By Bill Reynolds
La Conner Community News
Seventy years ago, a young, untested but energetic coach named Doug McGrath signed on to lead the La Conner High School basketball team, following the toughest of acts — the legendary one-armed Braves mentor, Jack Whittaker, for whom the school’s football and track and field facility is named.
Prior to that season’s opening tip-off, McGrath was open with the La Conner players about his inexperience as a coach.
“But he said we’d learn together,” recalls the team’s captain, Gail Thulen, now a seemingly ageless octogenarian and local icon in his own right, who would garner first unit All-State honors and set state Class B tournament scoring records during the 1955-56 campaign.
McGrath and his deep and talented Braves roster would prove quick studies, indeed.
La Conner that winter boasted one of Northwest Washington’s finest and most entertaining teams, drawing large crowds to its games — both home and away — culminating with a split of four contests and an eighth place finish in state trials at the College (now University) of Puget Sound Fieldhouse in Tacoma.
The Braves finished 22-7 overall, beating the likes of Ferndale, Monroe, Meridian, Oak Harbor, Twin City (Stanwood), Langley and Sultan. They took perennial Whatcom County power Lynden to overtime before falling 64-57 despite 38 points by Thulen in what he says was his best game for the Braves — which is saying a lot considering what unfolded in state play.
La Conner didn’t disappoint fans who turned out to see the offensive juggernaut that McGrath guided. The Braves averaged 62.3 points per game, topping 80 points three times, in an era before there was a shot clock or three-point line.
At Tacoma, La Conner achieved its highest one-game scoring total of the year in an 84-68 second round triumph over Lind.
The high-octane Braves attack was fueled by Marvin Wilbur Sr., a superb passer and one of three La Conner players who regularly scored in double digits.
“Marvin was a really, really good player,” Thulen said. “He got 36 points in one game.”
Sophomore center John Thein, who stood 6-4, was a force in the paint, collecting 14 points per outing.
“He was the real deal,” Thulen said of Thein.
Guards Chuck Hedlund and John Steiner were ballhawking defenders who combined for 10 points every night. Marv Lillquist, Bob Granger, Earl Fauser, Gary Campbell, Charlie Paul, and Darrel Homan provided the depth necessary to make a deep post-season run.
Never one to boast, Thulen after seven decades still modestly deflects attention from himself to the players who surrounded him.
“My teammates were the best,” said Thulen, who led the way with a 21.3 points per game scoring average.
At state, the Braves followed up the big win against Lind by eliminating Kalama 69-54. That set up a battle with Colfax for fifth place. The matchup was epic.
While Colfax eventually pulled away to a 64-55 victory, Thulen was making state tournament history. By late in the game he had netted 39 points, including 15 straight free throws.
“There was a timeout, and when we were in the huddle, coach McGrath said to me, ‘you only need two more points to set the (single-game scoring) record,’” Thulen remembered.
Time, however, was running out. And Colfax had the ball. But Thulen, who played on the back row of McGrath’s zone defense, managed to draw a charge from a Colfax player and was awarded two free throws.
He sank both, giving him 41 points and 17 consecutive foul shots made, the latter of which remains a state tournament standard.
When the 1956 tourney ended, the Braves had a hand in five state records. In addition to the single-game scoring and free throw marks, Thulen had established a new record of 118 points scored in four tournament games.
As a team, the Braves amassed 263 points in Tacoma, another new benchmark. The combined La Conner-Lind point total of 152 points established still one more state record.
Thulen’s athletic prowess — he also played tennis, ran track, and was a football quarterback and baseball pitcher—didn’t go unnoticed by collegiate coaches and recruiters. The University of Washington offered him a basketball scholarship, sending Husky stars Doug Smart and Bruno Boin to the Thulen farm on Dodge Valley Road — where they shot baskets in the barn where generations of local kids have played — to seal the deal.
“Playing for (UW coach) Tippy Dye was a joy,” Thulen said.
As a member of the Husky freshman team, Thulen played in preliminary games before varsity tilts featuring All-Americans Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.
“It was such a thrill to see Wilt Chamberlain up close,” Thulen said. “He was a very personable guy. And I got to see Elgin Baylor when we played a preliminary game against Seattle University.”
After a year at Montlake, Thulen was beckoned home to the family farm, in turn embracing local public service as a longtime La Conner School Board member and Pleasant Ridge Cemetery District Commissioner among other pursuits.
And despite dealing with a lingering hip disorder, he continued playing men’s league and town team sports for several years.
After all this time, the magical 1955-56 basketball season is no mere distant memory in the Thulen household thanks to former Braves coach Scott Novak, the unofficial archivist of La Conner hoops history.
Novak happened upon a large pictorial poster set aside in campus storage that McGrath had put together, and presented it to Thulen. It is now mounted on a wall in a small room off the kitchen.
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
