1962 Dunbar State Champion Boys Basketball Team

This group of talented athletes would win the fourth and final crown under the guidance of Hall of Honor Coach Ernest Mallory. By capturing the 1962 Prairie View Interscholastic League AA State Title, this team continued the storied tradition of basketball and athletic success at Dunbar High School.

Playing in one of the toughest districts in the entire state made their 20-2 final record even more impressive. Battling those 1-AA foes like Odessa Blackshear, Abilene Woodson, Amarillo Carver, and Midland Carver got them ready for what was to come.

To even advance to the playoffs, they secured the league crown with a must-win playoff game against Midland Carver. Then Coach Mallory set up a warm-up game at Slaton against undefeated Colorado City Wallace. Dunbar beat Wallace in that game giving them their only loss for the season. Wallace would go on to capture the 1-A State Championship.

After beating Wharton High School 80-52 in the State Semifinal, the Panthers might have thought bringing home the championship would be easy, but a much tougher team was waiting on them. The Championship Game matchup was against a bigger and taller Galena Park Fidelity Manor team.

Several players on the Galena Park team could dunk the basketball and they showed off that skill during warm-ups to try and intimidate the Panthers. Harry Johns was the only Dunbar player who could dunk, so he threw down a few dunks just to counter Galena Park.

Once the game started, it looked like Galena Park had things well in hand, but the team from Lubbock Dunbar would not be denied. They outscored Galena Park 24 to 10 in the final quarter and secured a 63-52 come-from-behind victory and the 1962 State Basketball Championship.

Charles Hawkins and Joe McWilliams earned All-State honors. McWilliams would later become the Head Basketball Coach of his alma mater and remained there until Dunbar was closed as a high school in 1993.

Other team members, all of whom honed their skills at the local Boys Club, were Ralph Hodge, Willie Haynes, Bert McWilliams, Harry Johns, James Ray Jackson, Mannie Williams, J.C. Terry, Willie Earnest Floyd, John Franklin, L.V. Andrews and Richard McWilliams. Joe McWilliams and Hodge were also members of the program’s 1960 State Championship Basketball Team.

The 1962 State Champion Dunbar Panthers Basketball Team is one of the proud memories in the illustrious history of Dunbar High School.