Paige Whitted didn’t know exactly what was wrong. But she knew with certainty that something was.

Paige, a senior at Briarcrest, was playing in a basketball game in January when she found herself alone on a breakaway. She went to lay the ball in — something she’s done thousands of times over the course of her career. But this time, it was very different. 

“I went up — I couldn’t even explain it — it was just so not right,” Paige said. ‘I was like ‘What is going on? This is not right.’ I thought I was tired.” 

Briarcrest standout wins fan vote for player of the week

It would have been understandable if she was. In the previous game, a strong Hutchison team face-guarded Paige throughout in an effort to limit her effectiveness. Paige hadn’t quite been herself for several days but now it was clear.

She’s just tired. We know how to fix that.

“‘Here, take this energy drink,’” said De’Neia Whitted, Paige’s mom. “Stretch. Pull your toe back. All these crazy things. (But) she went up for that lay-up — there was nobody there but her — her body floated up and it didn’t go in. Kevin (Paige’s dad) was like ‘What in the world just happened?’

“That moment, I was like ‘okay, she’s going to the doctor.’”

Blood tests confirmed that Paige had mononucleosis, an infection common in teenagers and young adults that results in extreme fatigue, fever and body aches. It’s a mystery how Paige contracted mono but that hardly matters. What matters is that she had it.