A high school boys basketball team in western Michigan is preparing for its first game in the state tournament, four days after its star player made a winning shot, then collapsed and died from a heart ailment.
Fennville High's decision to play in Monday night's game came after school officials talked to the family of 16-year-old Wes Leonard.
Fennville will play Lawrence High in the first round of a district tournament at 7 p.m. ET. The game was scheduled to be played at Lawrence but has been moved to Hope College in Holland to handle an anticipated larger crowd.
"It’s been crazy for us, being the team playing them,” Lawrence coach Curt Mead told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s been hard. We were all at the game because we’re getting ready to play them. We went right over from practice, a lot of us did.
“A lot of the kids saw it, and it’s been heartbreaking for them, as well. These kids grew up playing against him.”
Leonard made a basket Thursday to give the Blackhawks a victory over Bridgman High, capping an unbeaten regular season.
He died because of cardiac arrest caused by an enlarged heart.
