Third player on team killed

The South High team went to the Division I regional finals in 1996.
SPRINGFIELD (AP) -- The 1996 Springfield South High boys basketball team went to the regional Division I championship for the first time in 23 years, igniting a program that would make five regional appearances in nine seasons.
That team has achieved another distinction: In the past four months, three players have been shot to death.
"It's rough for me right now," said Thomas Stephens, a member of that team.
"But that year, that year was very fun. It was my freshman year. ... I was excited to get to play around those guys."
Jonathon Carson, 29, was shot and killed Tuesday night while authorities said he was breaking into a house near Springfield.
Charles "Chuck" Humphrey, 28, was killed on Nov. 18 in Springfield.
L. Jason Henderson, 29, was found shot in the back seat of a car in Toledo on Sept. 24.
"Each one of those kids, all three, came out of South High School with bright futures," said Larry Ham, the Wildcats' coach from 1992 to 2006.
"But we make choices in life. We've just got to make the right choices, and in some cases, maybe they didn't.
"But I will never, ever judge those kids. Because when they played for us, they were great kids. They did everything you asked them to do."
Played at Cincinnati
After graduating from South, Carson played for the University of Cincinnati, Barton Community College in Kansas and the University of Akron. Carson graduated from Barton, but not Akron.
Humphrey and Henderson did not graduate from college.
Carson had a conviction for receiving stolen property.
Humphrey was sentenced to four years in prison in 2000 for burglary, tampering with evidence and a weapons charge.
Carson, who made first team on the 1996 Associated Press Division I All-Ohio team, played in 17 games for Cincinnati during the 1997-98 season.
He was one of two men accused of breaking into the house northwest of Springfield on Tuesday, authorities said.
Both were shot by the homeowner.
Stephen said the city is losing the opportunity to make the best of its children.
"Why can't we help someone out after they go and they come back to Springfield and then get lost?" he said.
"What job opportunities are there for people who come back to Springfield? There's not a lot of factories here; there's not a lot of jobs here."
Coach moved on
Ham has moved on to Trotwood-Madison High School near Dayton, but his ties to his former players remains strong.
"I feel kind of an emptiness, really. It just hurts right in the gut. You can't describe it," Ham said.
"There's a void there and they're gone. The only thing that you can do is try to counsel others and those who are still around. If they've made mistakes, you just have to tell the others that you learn from it, and life goes on."