When I first woke up this morning and saw the email about this story my heart just dropped. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and team.
FENNVILLE, Mich. -- A western Michigan high school basketball player collapsed on the court amid his teammates and celebrating fans and later died after making the game-winning shot that capped his team's perfect season.
Holland Hospital spokeswoman Deb Patterson said 16-year-old Fennville High School junior Wes Leonard died Thursday night. A cause of death has not yet been determined.
Paramedics performed CPR on Leonard before he was pronounced dead at the hospital, Patterson said.
"Obviously, in the midst of celebration, I think shocking is exactly the word," Fennville superintendent Dirk Weeldreyer told The Holland Sentinel before Leonard's ambulance left the high school.
Leonard had scored the game-winning layup in a 57-55 overtime win against Bridgman to complete Fennville's 20-0 regular season. Leonard fell to the ground after teammates and fans rushed the court.
"It's tough to take in," Leonard's teammate, Shane Bale, told The Holland Sentinel. "It's like somebody from your family, you know?"
Leonard scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons at Fennville, which is about 200 miles west of Detroit. According to the Grand Rapids Press, Leonard also was the quarterback of the school's football team and led the Blackhawks to the second round of the state playoffs. In October, he threw seven touchdown passes in one game.
In an interview with the Sentinel at Tuesday's practice, Fennville basketball coach Ryan Klingler talked about how Leonard had a great drive to succeed and that he saw the "bigger picture."
"That's what makes him a little different. He takes care of his body better than probably anybody I've ever coached," Klingler said. "Spends a lot of time on his own in the weight room. He's a special kid."
Leonard is the second Fennville athlete to die in 14 months. Wrestler Nathaniel Hernandez died in January after suffering a seizure at home following his participation in a high school match. He was 14.
"We are all hurting now," coach Rocky Johnson, whose Bangor High team faced Fennville three times this season, told the Grand Rapids newspaper.
"My son and Wes played AAU in different programs, but we saw each other all summer, all spring, and he's the kind of kid that I would make sure to say hi to him and he would go out of his way to say hi to me," Johnson said. "He always had something good to say, all positives."
Fennville is scheduled to begin district play in the state playoffs Monday.
Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.
