Flint Central Basketball Teams – 1981-83

1981
Back Row L to R – Derald Banks, Eric Turner, Marvin Wells, Marty Embry, Marvin Evans, Carl Webster, Keith Gray Front Row – Rod Milhouse, Matt Carrington, Mark Harris, Dexter Clark, David Dunlop, Michael Chaney Not in Picutre Darryl Johnson, Mike Wallen. Stan Gooch – Head Coach, Tim Bograkos, Ath. Dir, Jack Ewing – Asst. Coach,
Donald Crowder, Principal

1982
Back Row L to R – Richard Haffner, Mark Wallen, Chris Levels, Marvin Evans, Marty Embry, Marvin Wells, Tyrone Williams, Asst. Coach – Jack Ewing Head Coach – Stan Gooch Front Row L to R – Jon Beaubien, Mike Wallen, Darryl Johnson, Mark Harris, Chris Williams, Micah Shambly, Ed Greer

Stan Gooch called it organized freelance.

The Central High basketball coach didn’t so much coach the Indians teams of the early 1980s as he did ride herd on a trainload of talent.

Gooch took some of the quickest, hottest-shooting players in Flint history, mixed in some structure with their street game and produced a three-year dynasty of Class A state champions.

The Tribe took titles in 1981, ’82 and ’83, winning a state-record 24 consecutive tournament games that they extended to 28 before losing in the regional in 1984. Their three-year log of 79-5 also is a state mark. Only one other Class A team, Kalamazoo Central in 1949-51, has strung three titles.

“We just had them do what they can do,” said Gooch, a 1992 inductee into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame being joined tonight by his three best teams.

“We watched them in pickup games, found out we had exceptional shooters and put in an offense that would get them shots. They were fun teams.”

The 1981 squad was the best and highest-scoring, going 28-0 with a run-and-gun style directed by All-American point guard Eric Turner. Turner, Mark Harris and Keith Gray all shot better than 50 percent for the season, and the Tribe averaged 88 points a game.

“Eric Turner and his teammates had a tremendous impact on basketball in Flint,” said then-Journal sports editor Dave Poniers. “No high school team that I ever watched played a more entertaining style. Stan Gooch’s teams set the standard.” The Indians won all eight tournament games by at least 10 points and capped it with a 108-90 rout of Detroit Murray Wright in the final. The 108 points was a state record for a quarterfinal, semifinal or final game, and Harris’ 44 points (on 20-of-25 shooting) was a finals record.

Harris was back in 1982, joined by co-captain Marty Embry and junior Darryl “DJ” Johnson on a team that went 26-2. Those Indians didn’t score as much, but they were more physical, with Embry dominating the backboards. And there was no drop off in shooting.

“We had a routine in practice where they had to make so many baskets from so many spots before we could go on,” said Gooch.

“We’d have to hit 10 from the baseline, 10 from the wing, 10 from the top of the key,” said DJ. “No one wanted to be the guy who missed because we’d have to start all over.”

The drills paid off in the semifinals, when Harris’ 35-foot shot at the buzzer nipped Southfield 48-47. The Indians then beat Antoine Joubert and Detroit Southwestern 79-60 for the title, led by Johnson’s 25 points.

DJ was back in ’83, joined by Ervin Leavy, Terence Greene and Ken Bowie. All four averaged double figures in scoring as the Tribe went 25-3.

“To show you how deep we were,” said Leavy, “I was probably the fourth option on that team and I got drafted by the Bulls (in 1987).”

The Indians survived another semi-final scare, when DJ weaved through traffic and banked in a 14-footer with seven seconds left to beat Detrot Kettering 57-56.

In a rematch with Detroit SW for the title, Joubert scored 47 points, but DJ (30) and Leavy (21) offset that in an 84-80 Central win.

The ride ended in the regional final in 1984, when Glen Rice and Northwestern stopped the Indians 64-47 on their way to their own back-to-back state titles. That gave Flint five straight Class A crowns.

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