High school player dies after hitting winning shot
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:40 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highscho ... id=6180469
Am I the only one seeing a very disturbing trend here? This seems to happen more and more often. Is it possible it has to do with these kids pushing themselves too hard? I know some of them have asthma and heart conditions before they play, etc, but perhaps there are precautions not being followed? This is such sad news. How horrible for the family and friends of this boy.FENNVILLE, Mich. -- A western Michigan high school basketball player collapsed on the court and later died after making the game-winning shot to cap 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.
According to Patterson, paramedics were performing CPR on Leonard at the time of his arrival at the hospital. He was pronounced dead nearly 90 minutes later.
Leonard had scored the game-winning layup in a 57-55 win over Bridgman in overtime to cap Fennville's 20-0 season. Leonard fell to the ground after teammates and fans rushed the court.
Leonard scored more than 1,000 points in his three seasons at Fenville, 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 of the state playoffs. In October, he threw seven touchdown passes in a game.
"It's hard to stomach," coach Rocky Johnson, whose Bangor High team faced Fenville three times this season, told the Grand Rapids newspaper. "We are all hurting now.
"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. He always had something good to say, all positives."