NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: YOUTHFUL CANTON TAKE THE FLOOR IN 2025-2026 (November 29, 2025)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
Canton boys’ basketball this year will feature a team full of freshmen as coach Brock Kitchen returns to the helm. The Warriors feature 13 players, nine of them ninth graders.

With so much youth and inexperience Kitchen is doing what most coaches in that situation do - focus on defense.

“We have to be able to stop people first,” he said. “We’re definitely going to be the smallest team in the league. The first half hour of our practice every day is defense. That’s what I think you’ve got to be able to work on the most anyways, being able to communicate with one another. We’re going to be able to run a couple different things, hopefully use or little bit of athleticism that we have. These younger kids, just trying to show them one thing at a time, let them master that before we get to something else.”

They do return two guards from last year’s squad in senior Ryder Route and junior Monte Whitehead.

“I definitely feel like a leader,” said Route. “I feel like it’s my responsibility to get them ready for the season. I’m excited for this.”

He said they’ve been doing a lot of basics as they get ready for the year.

“None of these kids really knew a lot of the fundamentals, so that’s really what we’ve worked on,” remarked Route. “We want to get them to play every roll, and being versatile.”

Kitchen is going to be leaning on Route, especially early in the season.

“Ryder’s got to be able to run the offense for us, and be able to bring the ball up against pressure,” he said. “Drew Holton, a freshman, will be our next point guard. He needs to be a good leader and mentor for him.”

Whitehead can’t wait to step on to court after showing some bursts as a scorer last season.

“I’ve been waiting since we had summer league,” he said. “I’m just excited to play with all these new guys. It’s exciting to see who steps up.”

The junior is looking to be a more consistent offensive threat this season for Kitchen.

“Coach will draw up some good plays for us, I’ll do my best to lead this team,” Whitehead said. “I worked on my jump shot quite a bit. I did some mid-range jumpers, to drive a lot better, and work on my handle.”

“The focal point is going to be on him when it comes to scoring,” explained Kitchen. “Teams are going to know the balls going to go through him a lot. He has worked on his post moves a little bit. Basketball is his first love, he’s had a good attitude so far, especially with the younger kids.”

Kitchen knows what’s in store for teams this young, but plenty of teams around the league are going through similar transitions - Sayre, Williamson, CV.

“For us, small school, that’s my goal,” he said. “When we’re going to start three freshmen, and the first two off the bench are going to be freshmen, I know we’re going to take our lumps in large school. I’m straightforward with them, they know that, but when it comes to small school teams, I really think Northeast Bradford is going to be head and shoulders above everybody else in small school. After that I think we just need to compete.”

They also have other games they feel are winnable.

“Going out to Galeton with three other small schools,” Kitchen said. “Galeton has a very good team, but I think we’re going to get Austin the first game, and that’s the team that we have to ready for and be able to compete with.”

He’s hoping they can learn from their cross-over games and use that in their divisional contests down the road.

“We’ve just got to grow from them, not get down in the dumps about it,” Kitchen said. “Just learn as we go, and hopefully the second time we come around the small school rotation, that maybe we can be competitive, and maybe sneak out a win or two.”

The key word for this group is growth. They want to be better in December than they were in November, be better in January than they were in December, and be better in February than they were in January.

“We’ve already had improvement,” remarked Route.

ROSTER (Grade)
Ryder Route (12)
Elijah Kilmer (12)
Monte Whitehead (11)
Joey Arnold (11)
Payton Best (9)
Henry Fitzwater (9)
Drew Holton (9)
Kobi Hoover (9)
Cooper Jennings (9)
Diesel Route (9)
Leyton Thompson (9)
Jack Whitehead (9)
Kix Carr (9)

SCHEDULE
Dec. 2 vs South Williamsport, 7 p.m.
Dec. 11 at Wyalusing, 7 p.m.
Dec. 16 vs Troy, 7 p.m.
Dec. 18 at NPM, 7 p.m.
Dec. 23 at CV, 7 p.m.
Jan. 5 at Millville, 7 p.m.
Jan. 6 at NEB, 7 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs NPL, 7 p.m.
Jan. 12 vs Sullivan County, 7 p.m.
Jan. 13 at Williamson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 15 vs Sayre, 7 p.m.
Jan. 17 at Sayre, 7 p.m.
Jan. 21 vs Athens, 7 p.m.
Jan. 26 vs Williamson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 28 at Wellsboro, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 vs CV, 7 p.m.
Feb. 2 vs Montgomery, 7 p.m.
Feb. 4 vs NEB, 7 p.m.
Feb. 6 at NPL, 7 p.m.

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