But she concentrated on her schoolwork, successfully swatted away all the boys that seem to be constantly buzzing around the bundle of energy, and made the Varsity team. The squad was coming off its best season ever and appeared to be even better than the previous year's group. Then the cough showed up. Basketball teams are natural breeding grounds for more germs than a Woodstock reunion. You've got a group of kids in close proximity, pretty much locked in a building for two or three hours a day at the height of cold and flu season.
Illnesses can make several circuits of a team in one season.
During basketball season, most kids get sick, and some kids stay sick. Wamnee's cough got worse and worse as Christmas approached. She was noticeably weaker and had trouble running the sprints in practice. There would be no upset that night, as Amphi rolled to a 40-point win. Wamnee was playing well off the bench, but then she started coughing.