FENNVILLE, Mich. (AP) — It was the perfect shot to end a perfect season. Then came the tragedy so unthinkable it didn't seem real.
Wes Leonard's game-winning layup in overtime brought the Fennville High School crowd to its feet, and joyous teammates and fans quickly surrounded their star player. Then the seemingly impossible happened: Leonard collapsed and died. He was just 16.
A day later, this small town near Lake Michigan remembered an "all-American kid" whose athletic heroics had been local legend since middle school, when opposing coaches sometimes asked to see his birth certificate, not believing someone so young could be so skilled.
"He was a good kid, a good friend to have and a good person to hang around with," DeMarcus McGee, who played football and basketball with Leonard, said between sobs. "You never thought it could be him. He was so healthy. It shouldn't happen."
On Thursday evening, Leonard sent the ball through the hoop from close range with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. The final shot gave Fennville a 57-55 victory over Bridgman High and a 20-0 regular season.
After the teams exchanged handshakes, Fennville players scrambled together for a team photo to commemorate their undefeated record. That's when the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Leonard collapsed.
"Thirty seconds earlier he was laying in the winning bucket," said Ryan Klingler, basketball coach in Fennville, about 200 miles west of Detroit. "And then 10 seconds later ... everything's pulled out from under you, from out of nowhere."
Leonard was rushed to nearby Holland Hospital, where paramedics performed CPR before he was pronounced dead. An autopsy conducted Friday by the Ottawa County medical examiner showed Leonard died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.
"It shouldn't have been like this," teammate Adam Siegel said. "Too young."
Grief counselors were available Friday for students at the school. Delivery trucks dropped off trays full of flowers. Students made signs in tribute to Leonard and planned to display them in the hallways.
Many who knew Leonard said he was destined for athletic greatness from a young age. He was a top performer in baseball and football, too.
Vicki Lepior, who owns a roofing company, used to coach baseball against Leonard when he was a fourth-grader.
"When I saw him pitch, I told my boys, 'You better move back in the box just a little bit,'" Lepior said of the boy she called "Big Man Wes."
"He was just the kid that everybody loved, and there isn't a mother on Earth who doesn't feel (what his mother) feels."
Chad VanHuis, who once umpired Leonard's middle-school baseball games, remembered opposing coaches asking to see his birth certificate.
"He was very courteous. He was the nicest kid. You'd think with his star potential, because he's so gifted, he'd be cocky, but he never really was that way," VanHuis said.
When he reached Fennville High, Leonard really took off, playing as a starter for three years on the football team, first as a receiver, then as a quarterback and defensive end.
"He had a personality that, when people were around him, they played better," said Tim Schipper, Leonard's football coach. "Everybody around him played better, because he was a leader and the best athlete."
Schipper had expected Leonard to take his talents into college athletics at some level, although his prospects were unclear.
Leonard, who played basketball as a freshman and then spent two seasons as a starter, led the Blackhawks throughout the 2010 season.
"He was just an amazing kid," Klingler said. "What made him special is he had a passion about everything he did. That's what separated him — his passion. He had a passion to compete. He had a passion to be his best."
The Fennville team was scheduled to compete in the district playoffs Monday, but school officials had not decided Friday whether to play the game.
"That's way, way down the road," Klingler said. "We're going to make sure we're all in a good, healthy place before we decide on anything."
Leonard's mother, Jocelyn, is a choir teacher at the middle and high schools and director of Fennville High's production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." A performance of the musical scheduled for Friday was canceled, and it was uncertain whether the Saturday and Sunday shows would happen, either.
Fennville Superintendent Dirk Weeldreyer remembered Leonard as "the quintessential all-American kid."
"Beyond his outstanding athletic abilities, Wes was a better person," Weeldreyer said. "His fellow students liked and respected him. Their grief speaks volumes about the high regard in which Wes was held."
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Associated Press writer Mike Householder in Detroit contributed to this report.
FENNVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan high school's star basketball player collapsed on the court and later died after making a game-winning layup in overtime to cap his team's perfect season.
Wes Leonard of Fennville High died Thursday night, Holland Hospital spokeswoman Deb Patterson said. A cause of death has not yet been determined.
Paramedics performed CPR on the 16-year-old before he was pronounced dead at the hospital, Patterson said.
Leonard, a junior who also excelled as the quarterback of the Blackhawks football team, was "by far the best player on that basketball team — outstanding athlete," said coach Mike Miller, whose Bridgman team lost 57-55 to Fennville Thursday night.
"All of Bridgman's thoughts and prayers are going toward Fennville right now," Miller said.
Grief counselors were on hand at the high school on Friday, the Fennville School District said.
Leonard's mother, Jocelyn, is a choir teacher at the middle and high schools and is the director of Fennville High's production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." A scheduled performance of the musical was canceled for Friday, and it's undecided whether there will be shows on Saturday and Sunday.
Chad VanHuis, a 21-year-old Fennville High graduate who once umpired Leonard's middle school baseball games and was his camp counselor, heard that Leonard had collapsed as he headed into work.
During his break around 1:30 a.m., VanHuis, an assembly line worker at an auto glass factory in nearby Holland, logged on to Facebook and learned of his friend's passing.
"I couldn't believe it," said VanHuis, who remembered opposing baseball coaches asking to see his birth certificate, not believing a 12-year-old could be so big and skilled.
"He was very courteous. He was the nicest kid. You'd think with his star potential, because he's so gifted, he'd be cocky, but he never really was that way."
On Thursday, Leonard, who earlier this season eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his high school career, laid the ball in with less than 30 seconds remaining. Bridgman wasn't able to score during the ensuing trip down the court, giving Fennville a 20-0 season. Leonard fell to the ground after teammates and fans rushed the court.
Fennville Superintendent Dirk Weeldreyer remembered Leonard as "the quintessential all-American kid."
"He had a great grin and was always cheerful. Younger kids throughout the community looked up to him and idolized him," Weeldreyer said. "Wes was strong and powerful. As the quarterback of our championship football team, he could throw a dart 40 yards down the field. He had the body of a linebacker, but brought the ball up the floor for our 20-0 basketball team."
Leonard is the second Fennville athlete to die in 14 months.
Wrestler Nathaniel Hernandez, 14, died in January of last year after suffering a seizure at home following his participation in a high school wrestling match, The Holland Sentinel reported.
Fennville is about 200 miles west of Detroit.
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Associated Press writer Mike Householder in Detroit contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
