Truman goes as Krystal Pearson goes. So it wasn’t really a surprise when the Mustangs looked like Pearson felt Tuesday – weak and lethargic.
Pearson was suffering from the flu before Christmas and got food poisoning over the weekend. She vomited Monday and before what would eventually be a 38-31 win over Bayard Rustin in the Baseline Holiday Madness Tournament first round at IS 219 in The Bronx. But the 5-foot-11 junior wing still ended up with 23 points.
“It just shows what a talented competitor she is,” Truman coach John Burke said. “She was dizzy, she couldn’t see. I tried to get her out here and there, but obviously couldn’t keep her out for too long.”
Truman (6-5), ranked No. 10 in the PSAL by The Post, struggled throughout after not having any practice or games since falling to John F. Kennedy last Wednesday. Bayard Rustin (1-9), which has lost a handful of close games in PSAL Manhattan A West, led 17-12 at halftime despite no contributions from its best player, talented wing Cheryl Osborne, who was mired in foul trouble.
“Give credit to them,” Burke said. “They weren’t intimidated by us at all. They outhustled us in many areas. … One would like to think that a lot of it was working out some kinks after five days off. It’s probably not that easy. Hopefully we can work things out in the next few days. Things like keeping your pivot after catching the basketball. Things like when you miss 25 jump shots in a row maybe you should consider driving to the basket. Hopefully that’s stuff that’ll come back to us tomorrow.”
The Titans even led 23-22 heading into the fourth quarter, before Pearson scored 12 of her points in the final frame for the Mustangs, who meet Lincoln in the semifinals Wednesday.
“I felt weak,” Pearson said. “I didn’t feel like running up the floor.”
But she gutted it out with the rest of the week in mind. Truman won’t play in the Baseline championship game Thursday if it beats Lincoln. The Mustangs were already scheduled to meet McKee/Staten Island Tech at the Bergtraum Holiday Classic and they meet Medgar Evers, their likely Baseline final opponent, on Martin Luther King Jr. day.
“It was a good run to get warmed up and get the team warmed up, too,” Pearson said. “We couldn’t hit a jump shot. It was good to get this out of the way now instead of it happening Thursday against MSIT.”
Senior point guard Tierra Hollins, who returned from a knee injury two weeks ago, had six points following a 15-point, six-assist performance against Kennedy. Osborne had all nine of her points in the second half for Bayard Rustin and Brianna Johnson added seven.
Putting Tuesday’s performance behind them, the Mustangs think they can stand up to the PSAL’s upper echelon. They’ll get a chance to prove it Thursday.
“We compete against big teams,” Pearson said. “Anything can happen when you compete. The game is up for grabs if we can compete. We have nothing to lose anyways.”