Tears flowed and hugs tightened as students and staff at Fairfield Freshman School struggled to cope Wednesday with the sudden death of Maxwell King, a student who collapsed after a recreational basketball game earlier this week.

King, 14, was playing basketball Monday at East Butler County YMCA on Morris Road when he went to get a drink of water and collapsed. He was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus, where he died Tuesday afternoon, said Gina Gentry-Fletcher, the school district’s spokeswoman.

News of King’s death left the school in shock, as King had shown no outward sign of health problems, according to Fairfield Freshman School principal Katie Pospisil.

“He was a great part of the Fairfield Freshman family,” she said, which includes 850 students. King was “an inspiring student who was always on the honor roll. And a moment did not go by where people weren’t giving him high-fives and talking to him.”

Counselors were at the building throughout the day helping students and staff deal with their grief, Gentry-Fletcher said.

Hundreds of hand-written messages covered King’s locker at the school, many of them featuring the purple and yellow colors of his favorite basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Many messages called Maxwell “the King,” playing off of his last name.

“You were the best friend I ever had. I have no one to talk to now that you’re gone. I love you,” wrote student Lindsey Nguyen.

“You were so nice and sweet and you loved everyone and they loved you back,” wrote student Jake Hetrick. “I already miss you, bro. The way you made me smile and laugh. It’s not fair.”

Students weren’t the only ones grieving. Teachers and administrators’ voices quavered as they praised the honor roll student who they said left a positive feeling everywhere he went. Pospisil, who is in her first year as principal of the school, cried as she hugged Kim Schultheiss, one of King’s teachers.

“It’s horrific,” Schultheiss said of Maxwell’s sudden death. “I’ve been here 20 years, and we’ve never had a day like this here … when you can’t understand it yourself, it’s hard to be the strong one for (the students).”

“Max was the ideal student — the student everybody would want in their class. Kind, considerate, outgoing — I’ve never heard one person say a bad word about him,” she said.

King’s hard work also transferred onto the basketball court. He was focused on playing basketball for Fairfield, Schultheiss said.

Pospisil remembered that she and Maxwell “would debate which was the better player: Kobe Bryant or LeBron James,” noting that Maxwell was a Bryant fan.

“Sometimes he didn’t like my answer,” she said.

Karrie Gabbard, executive director of the East Butler County YMCA said the boy, who was a familiar face at the branch, collapsed after the game.

“We made every effort to make a rescue. We’re very proud of our staff and our members, but unfortunately it didn’t have the result we wanted. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” Gabbard said.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced, but there will be a vigil for Max at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Fairfield East Elementary School, the district announced on its Facebook page.

Amid such overwhelming sadness, it is the memories of Max that are sustaining his teachers and friends.

“I’ve been telling my kids today that we have to take something from it … we all need to be kind like him. We all need to treat each other well, just like he treated all of us,” Schultheiss said.