NTL GIRLS' BASKETBALL: CANTON'S KITCHEN NETS 1000TH IN WIN OVER WILLIAMSON (2025-02-11)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
CANTON — It was fitting that Canton’s Kendall Kitchen hit 1,000 points on a 3-pointer considering how prolific an outside shooter she’s been during her career. In the senior’s last regular season home game she needed 14 to hit the mark, and finished with 21 - all in the first half - as Canton rolled past Williamson 60-26 in NTL girls’ hoops action Monday.

“It’s been a goal of mine for a really long time, so it just feels good to finally do it,” Kitchen said, who is the first female to hit 1,000 points at Canton in 23 years. “It feels really good to refresh the banner a little bit, just to show everybody else that it doesn’t have to be something impossible.”

She went 5-for-9 from deep on the night, while adding seven boards, six assists, and three steals.

“It is extremely rewarding for a lot of people,” Canton coach Ryan VanNoy said. “Obviously for her, but for her family, for our fans, for the program. It’s extremely rewarding, and it’s very well deserved, because that girl works her butt off, and she has for the last seven years.”

It was a slow start for Kitchen as she missed her first three shots, including a lay-up, but once that first 3-pointer went in everything just clicked.

“I was (nervous), especially when I saw they started to run a triangle-and-two,” said Kitchen. “I just got in my head too much, and just forgot to just shoot and play. Once I heard the student section erupt when I hit my first shot, I just knew it was going to be a good night.”

Cailyn VanNoy added 17 points, four assists, and four steals, with Lydia Roupp getting 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting.

Danah Wesneski had seven points, with two steals, as Stella Rockwell, and Savannah Boyles netted two points each. Alexis McRoberts chipped in with one point, 11 boards, and three steals.

Bailey Snyder, and Aubrey Wells had six points apiece to lead Williamson.

Canton jumped out to a 10-0 start, punctuated with Kitchen’s first 3-pointer of the night. 

Wells answered with a 3-ball of her own to get Williamson on the scoreboard, but Kitchen hit her second of the frame for a 13-3 lead. 

Williamson ended the quarter on a 3-0 run to cut it to 13-6.

Wesneski had a put back to start the second, but a Kenna Thomas 3-ball made it a 15-9 contest.

Kitchen would nail a 3-pointer, followed by VanNoy getting a lay-up for a 20-9 lead.

That’s when Kitchen hit milestone making 3-ball for a 23-9 lead.

“She’s an absolute monster,” VanNoy said. “I keep calling her the Ultimate Warrior because she always has the toughest defensive assignment, and she still goes out, and get us 14 a game. It takes a special player to do that.”

A Snyder put back cut it to 23-11 but Canton scored the next 11 points to start to pull away with a 34-11 lead. A Williamson free throw ended that run, but Canton finished the quarter on a 4-0 spurt to take a 38-12 into the locker rooms.

VanNoy went on a 4-0 run to start the second half to put the game into the mercy rule.

There was quite the crowd on hand to see Kitchen get the mark, including Terilyn Anderson, the last 1,000 point scorer for the Warriors.

“It felt really good knowing (she was there) because she was a really good player,” said Kitchen. “So it just made me feel really good that she was there.”

VanNoy is hoping it doesn’t take that long until their next 1,000 point scorer, but he does know having a leader like Kitchen doesn’t come around often.

“It’s been instrumental in where we’re at,” he said. “Last year she took a bunch of younger players, and it was supposed to be a rebuilding year for us, and the reason that it was not is because of how hard Kendall practices, and that just kind of brought them along real fast. That younger group got old fast, and they’re not playing like sophomores right now. Alexis McRoberts has done a lot of good things for us, and our players that are inexperienced are not inexperienced players anymore, and that’s a testament to Kendall, and how hard she works.”

Canton (14-7) will look to close out a 15-win season as they travel to Sayre on Tuesday, something they haven’t seen in a quite a while, either.

“We have really good chemistry on and off the court,” Kitchen said about their success. “I just love all those girls, so it just feels really good to be in this spot right now.”

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PHOTO CAPTION: Canton’s Kendall Kitchen hits a 3-ball for her 1,000th point…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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