Dutchtown High School student dies after collapsing on BKB court

A student athlete died Thursday after he collapsed while playing basketball court in the Dutchtown High School gymnasium.

Incoming James Cobb was playing on the court with a group of friends after football conditioning drills, according to Johnnie Balfantz, public information officer for the Ascension Parish School Board.

Emergency responders were called to the scene around 1 p.m., he said.

School officials called 911, Balfantz said. Acadian Ambulance Air-Med flew Cobb to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where he was pronounced dead.

Balfantz was not certain of Cobb’s age, although one source stated he was 14.

“I’m not sure of his exact age, but I would think he was either 13 or 14,” he said. “He was an incoming freshman who had not even started his first day of class.”

Approximately 40 students were present – some going in and out the gym – at the time Cobb collapsed, Balfantz said.

The school will offer grief counseling for classmates and parents, he said.