The varsity basketball team played against Blue Springs High School for fifth place in the final game of a three-day tournament held at Lee’s Summit North High School on Friday. The team was looking to make up for the previous two games played, which resulted in losses.

After senior Rachael Beck won the opening tip off, the team was unable to capitalize. The first quarter began with a slow start, the only points for the team coming from a long two-pointer from junior Madeline Dercher.

The second quarter began with the team behind 2-11, and Blue Springs’ lead quickly grew to 17 points, prompting Coach Leslie Young to call a timeout that would prove effective. Following the timeout Sion scored 15 unanswered points and went into the half only down two points.

“Our girls were a little bit timid to take shots,” Young said. “But what changed was they started taking shots, and [the shots] started going in.”

The team came out of the locker room with energy, beginning the third quarter with a quick steal which led to two points, tying the game 21-21. Beck drew a charge just seconds later to put the team in the lead. From there the tides quickly turned into a back-and-forth style game.

“Coming back from down 17 [points] to down two [points] gave us a big momentum boost after the half,” Beck said.

A three-pointer by Dercher forced Blue Springs to take a timeout, adding to Sion’s momentum. In the final minute of the third quarter senior Madison Heide made two free throws to break the tie and put the team up by two points. The quarter ended with the scored tied, 33-33.

Sion got off to a quick start in the fourth quarter with an opening layup by sophomore Amaya Adams to put the team in the lead once again. In the end turnovers proved costly for Blue Springs, leading to five quick points for Sion, and ultimately putting the game out of reach for Blue Springs.

Even though fouls from Sion allowed Blue Springs to begin a comeback, they ran out of time, and Sion held on for a 45-40 win, with the help from top scorers Dercher, with 12 points, and Adams, with 8 points, as well as strong play from the bench.  
“We learned that we can come back and fight,” Young said. “We learned importance of bench play. The people that came off the bench were huge sparks for us, which taught us that we can rely on each other.”