08/30/2026
Take a trip back in time…
1949–50 Twin City Cardinals!
🏀🔴⚪ WHEN TWIN CITY RULED THE COURT: THE 1949–50 CARDINALS ⚪🔴🏀
Before Stanwood High School became home of the Spartans, basketball fans in Stanwood cheered for the Twin City Cardinals.
The 1949–50 Cardinals captured league and district championships, entered the postseason undefeated and advanced to the state semifinals before finishing sixth in Washington’s Class B State Tournament.
🔴 THE HISTORY OF TWIN CITY HIGH SCHOOL
Twin City High School was located in Stanwood, Washington, and operated under that name from 1944 until 1962.
At the time, Stanwood and East Stanwood were separate neighboring communities commonly known as the “Twin Cities.” In 1944, voters approved the consolidation of the Stanwood, East Stanwood and Warm Beach school districts. The combined school became Twin City High School, and its teams adopted the Cardinals nickname.
After Stanwood and East Stanwood legally merged into one city in 1960, the school returned to the name Stanwood High School in the early 1960s. The Cardinals eventually gave way to the present-day Stanwood Spartans.
The building that housed Twin City High School later served as a middle school in the Stanwood-Camano School District. Although the high school name disappeared, “Twin City” remains part of the community through Twin City Elementary School.
🏆 CHAMPIONS BEFORE STATE
The 1949–50 program described Twin City as:
🔹 Tri-County League champions
🔸 Northwest District champions
🔹 Undefeated entering the state tournament
🔸 Second-place state finishers the previous season
Coach Henry Niemeier guided a veteran roster featuring eight seniors and two juniors. The Cardinals combined experience with excellent size for the era, including 6-foot-5 forward Kearney Strand, 6-foot-4 forward Edmund Breum and 6-foot-2, 215-pound center Clifford Myron.
🔴 THE TWIN CITY CARDINALS
🔹 No. 5 — Dennis Anderson, guard, junior, 5-foot-10
🔸 No. 11 — Edmund Breum, forward, senior, 6-foot-4
🔹 No. 10 — Lawrence Breum, forward, senior, 6-foot-1
🔸 No. 6 — Ray Breum, guard, senior
🔹 No. 9 — Clifford Myron, center, senior, 6-foot-2
🔸 No. 13 — George Ovenell, forward, senior, 5-foot-10
🔹 No. 3 — Terry Peterson, guard, junior, 5-foot-9
🔸 No. 7 — John Simonsmith, forward, senior, 5-foot-11
🔹 No. 8 — Kearney Strand, forward, senior, 6-foot-5
🔸 No. 4 — Stanley Wagness, forward, senior, 5-foot-9
The printed roster credits Harris Kluksdal as manager. The team photograph caption also identifies Jack Carlson as a manager and Harry Kluksdahl as “Mgr.,” preserving the different spellings and titles exactly as they appeared in the original program.
🏀 THE 1950 CLASS B STATE TOURNAMENT
The Cardinals opened state-tournament play on March 8 with a convincing 48–33 victory over Lakeside of Seattle.
One day later, Twin City defeated Endicott, 63–47, earning a place in the state semifinals.
🔴 First Round
Twin City 48, Lakeside 33
⚪ Quarterfinals
Twin City 63, Endicott 47
🔴 Semifinals
Kalama 52, Twin City 35
⚪ Sixth-Place Game
Chelan 68, Twin City 67
After falling to Kalama in the semifinals, the Cardinals faced Chelan in their final game. Twin City’s season ended in a heartbreaking 68–67 loss, leaving the Cardinals only one point short in the sixth-place contest.
📊 STATE TOURNAMENT NUMBERS
🔹 Record: 2–2
🔸 Points scored: 213
🔹 Points allowed: 200
🔸 Average scoring margin: Plus 3.3 points per game
🔹 State finish: Sixth place
The available program does not list Twin City’s complete regular-season schedule or number of victories, so an exact final season record cannot be confirmed. What the historical record does establish is that the Cardinals arrived at state undefeated after winning both the Tri-County League and Northwest District championships.
🌟 THE LEGACY
The Twin City name occupied only a brief chapter in Stanwood’s long history, but the Cardinals built a proud basketball tradition during those years.
The 1949–50 team represented three consolidated school communities, carried an undefeated record into the state tournament and advanced to the semifinals. Its sixth-place finish came one year after Twin City had placed second in state, establishing the Cardinals as one of Washington’s strongest small-school programs of the era.
Today, the school is remembered as part of the history of Stanwood High School—but for one memorable period, the red and gray belonged to the Twin City Cardinals.
🔴⚪ MYGAMERBROS HOOPS — PRESERVING THE PLAYERS, TEAMS AND STORIES THAT BUILT WASHINGTON BASKETBALL. ⚪🔴
