Chance Michels lay near the Bishop Gorman High basket in pain and holding his forehead after taking an elbow to the face with less than two minutes to play in Friday night’s…
Chance Michels lay near the Bishop Gorman High basket in pain and holding his forehead after taking an elbow to the face with less than two minutes to play in Friday’s state championship game against Clark at the Orleans Arena.
Michels, the lone senior contributor on a Gorman team of many bluechip underclassmen, was often the Gaels’ most underrated player, coaches say.
They rave about how he would put his body on the line to take a charge, guard the other team’s best player on the perimeter, or unselfishly pass to teammates instead of looking to fill the stat sheet.
That unselfishness was again on display in the last game of the season — the last game of his three-year varsity career. Michels had six points, five rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes, and Gorman prevailed 68-60 against Clark for an eighth straight state championship.
While Michels’ stats don’t jump off the scoresheet, they only tell half the story. What was most important is that when he was in the game, Gorman outscored Clark by 11 points.
