Editor's Notebook

I had the pleasure of visiting with Grant Frankenberg, Sr. the other day.

A 1951 graduate of Purcell High School, Frankenberg was a reserve guard on the 1950 PHS State Champion basketball team and is reported to be the last survivor of that title squad that played for the legendary Boney Matthews.

The starters on that team were Jim Lewis, Bob Russell, Willie Yates, Lewis Hammond and the fabled Lester Lane.

Lane may have been a three sport All-Stater, three sport letterman at OU and Gold Medal Olympian, but Frankenberg said he wasn’t the best free throw shooter.

That title belonged to Boney himself.

“He would workout with us and was by far the best free throw shooter,” Frankenberg recalled.

“To start the season, Coach Matthews would put us on a bus for a road trip to travel around and play three or four teams around the state,” Frankenberg said.

“Nowadays they call that preseason. It caused us to have a little bit of togetherness.

“Boney was always cool, calm and collected but it’s easy to be that way when you win almost every game,” Frankenberg said with a chuckle.

Frankenberg said he doesn’t recall losing a game in the 1949-50 season and said the Dragons would have won it again in 1951 if Lane hadn’t sustained an eye injury late in the season.

“We lost in the Regional finals in sudden death, one of only two losses that season,” Frankenberg said.

Matthews was not one to substitute during games, Frankenberg said.

“When Lester got hurt they put me in for him but that was it. He played the starters almost every minute of every game.

“Even though I was a late arrival to the Dragons (he went to Washington Schools for a couple of years), I had the privilege of playing football, basketball and track with Lester,” the long-time Purcell resident said.

“He was quite the athlete,” Frankenberg concluded.