Sion Basketball builds around toughness and athleticism

By Max Goodwin

For the first time in nearly a year, Terryn Ford, a junior at Notre Dame de Sion, took the court wearing the purple of the Sion Storm.

Even in a quiet morning scrimmage against Barstow this preseason, she lights up the gym with effort and activity. She tore the ACL in her left knee last year, and her joy to be back on the court was evident. 

She’s a physically strong point guard with a game built around defense and energy. A natural leader on the court for Sion, whose toughness and intensity embody the team’s effort.

Her dad, Terrell, takes over as head coach at Sion this season. Terrell Ford has been a coach at Sion for three years nearly as long as Terryn has been in high school. He started as a JV coach, was a varsity assistant last season, and now becomes the varsity head coach.

As a first-year head coach, Terrell melds together a young group of athletic freshmen with an established group of seniors and juniors. 

Terryn and junior Abby Wendte will form a backcourt that Sion would be willing to match against anybody. Wendte transferred from Lee’s Summit West to Sion this year, giving the team depth at guard positions. 

“I think that Terryn and Abby are the best backcourt in the city,” Terrell said. 

Ford still plays with a large brace on her knee for now. She comes into the season feeling about 95 percent back to her regular health as the season begins. In two or three weeks, she plans to play without the brace.

“The rest of it will come when she can take the brace off,” Terrell said. “It just restricts her movement a little bit.”

It has been a long path back to being on the court again, as it is for all young athletes recovering from an ACL tear. The knee is rebuilt in surgery, and the muscles around it must be built back up. Physical therapy is a long and tough process. 

“Then there’s the mental component of getting back on the floor and just trusting the knee to do things you’ve done before,” Terrell said. 

Terryn will be an on-court leader for Sion with the team’s three seniors: Angela DeFlorio, Elena Gromowsky, and Emerson Shelton. 

They will lead a talented trio of freshmen, generating a lot of excitement for the future of Sion Basketball. Kylenna Potts, Sydney Blaine, and Charlotte Baity, all freshmen, will likely get regular playing time this season.

Terrell expects Potts and Blaine could be some of the best to ever play at Sion. “I think those two could be All-State before they’re done here,” Ford said. 

The veterans and young freshmen were all in-sync as Sion played Barstow and Harrisonville on a Saturday morning for the Sion Preseason Jamboree. “They couldn’t miss,” said a Barstow assistant after playing Sion for three quarters and being outscored by a wide margin.

Sion lost in the district semifinals last season and the district finals in 2021. Their goal is to win district and advance to the round of 16 teams in MSHSAA Class 4 this year. The last time Sion advanced from districts was in 2008, when they reached the Class 4 State Championship and finished second. 

Taelyn Smith will play center for Sion. She’s a reliable post-player with good passing skills and can put the ball on the floor. She allows Sion to play a five-out style of offense, but she can also get rebounds and play in the middle. 

Sion has a deep team of athletic players that can play several positions. They plan to wear down opponents with a constant full-court press on defense. In the preseason jamboree, the press led to layup after layup against Barstow and Harrisonville.

“We will be a really solid defensive team, and we are really, really athletic,” Ford said. “The biggest strength after athleticism is we’re deep; we have nine players that we can play.”

Stars may emerge as the season progresses, but Sion will be a tough team built around defensive toughness to overwhelm opponents with effort and relentless energy. 

If Sion can build all this talent into a cohesive team, this could be a season to remember for the Storm. There are a lot of new players to bring together, but this Sion team will be one to watch in years to come as Coach Ford pieces it all together.

Sion begins the season at Lee’s Summit, a team that Sion beat by 13 points last season before they face St. Michael the Archangel, a team that Sion beat by 20 last season. Then they play at rival St. Teresa’s Academy in a game that should help Coach Ford understand how this team plays together.