NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: RELOADED CANTON HAS STRONG SEASON (2023-03-17)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Canton boys’ basketball. They lost much of their star power and rotation to graduation, returning just one starter. Another long football season also put them behind the 8-ball again.

Despite all that, the Warriors came just one basket away from claiming the NTL Small School title.

“Very proud of the progress the team made from beginning to end of the season,” said Canton coach Brock Kitchen. 

They finished 12-9 on the year, and took second in the NTL Division-II standings.

“Weston Bellows was one of the best leaders I have ever coached,” said Kitchen. “He did it all by example, with no words said, and I think that is the best way for a team to follow you. The kids played hard every night they stepped out on the court; us making the playoffs this year was a huge accomplishment from where we came from in November.”

They started the year going 1-3 but Christmas Break they hit their stride, winning the CMVT Tournament title followed by a big league win over NEB (50-40).

They went 2-2 over their next four games, followed by a murderer’s row of losses to Wellsboro, NP-Mansfield, and Athens.

Going into the second half of the division season they won four straight, setting up a winner-take-all with Sayre, that ended with a 47-45 overtime loss.

Canton would end the regular season on a 2-0 run, then lost their NTL Showdown game at NP-Mansfield, and their district game at Northwest.

“All the seniors played very important roles,” Kitchen said. “As mentioned before Bellows was our leader. Austin Allen gave us an outside shooting threat, and did a great job on the boards. Kyle Kapichok really stepped up the second half of the season on both ends of the floor, and put together a very good senior season. Westley Castle gave us energy and defense whenever he was put on the floor. Hunter Brackman made some big shots for us in some big games, and did a lot of little things that go unnoticed.”

Bellows averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.6 SPG, and 1.0 BPG, while Kapichok finished with 9.8 PPG and 5.9 RPG. Allen chipped in with 6.6 PPG and 4.3 RPG

“A great group of seniors that will be missed, and hard to replace,” Kitchen said. “They, along with Aiden Palmer, who missed the season because of an injury, will do great things for themselves, and for others, in the next step of their journey.”

They return Ben Fitch (7.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.4 SPG) and Talin Williams (2.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG), who missed the final third of the season with an injury. They’ll be the two building blocks for the Warriors starting next season.