EL EXTERIOR ESTADOUNIDENSE MARTYCE KIMBROUGH SE APUNTA NUESTRA ESTRELLA ASTURBASKET DE LA SEMANA, AL ALCANZAR LOS 34 CRÉDITOS DE VALORACIÓN EN LA CÓMODA VICTORIA DEL TESLACARD CÍRCULO ANTE EL JAFEP GLOBALCAJA FUNDACIÓN LA RODA.

La Estrella Asturbasket estrena ganador esta semana. Se trata de Martyce Kimbrough, que se salió en la relajada victoria del Teslacard Círculo ante el Jafep Globalcaja Fundación La Roda el pasado jueves (98-70).

Los 34 créditos de valoración del jugador natural de Lima, Ohio, llegaron tras completar las siguientes estadísticas: 30 puntos, 3 rebotes (todos defensivos), 4 asistencias, 3 recuperaciones y 2 faltas recibidas con unos porcentajes de 2/3 en tiros de 2 puntos, 8/12 en triples y 2/2 en tiros libres.

En la segunda posición se situó el brasileño Felipe Braga, que culminó una notable temporada festejando la permanencia del Liberbank Oviedo B y sumando 22 de valoración en la victoria de su equipo ante el Agustinos Leclerc. Con 20 de valoración, empataron en la tercera plaza Bryce Douvier y Kenny Ejim.

El máximo anotador de la jornada también fue el propio Martyce Kimbrough, quien castigó la defensa de La Roda con 30 puntos, gracias, en buena parte, a los 8 triples enchufados. Muy cerca de él quedó Kenny Hatch, con 29 tantos, mientras que el tercer clasificado fue Antón Bouzán con 21.

Felipe Braga copó el galardón de máximo reboteador del fin de semana, gracias a sus 15 capturas en el encuentro ante Agustinos Leclerc. Ryan Ejim y Pieter Prinsloo escoltaron a la torre carioca, con 11 y 10 rebotes respectivamente.

Uno de los destacados en el apartado de las asistencias ha sido durante toda la temporada Pablo Bretón. “The Doctor” repartió 6 pases de canasta ante el ULE IRiego Basket León, aunque su esfuerzo no sirvió para que los rojiblancos lograsen una necesaria victoria. Alonso Meana, con 5 asistencias, se colocó en el segundo puesto de este top.

VALORACIÓN

1. Martyce Kimbrough (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 34
2. Felipe Braga (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto B) 22
3. Bryce Douvier (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto) 20
4. Kenny Ejim (Huniko Gijón Basket) 20
5. Saúl Blanco (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 18
6. Shane Osayande (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 18
7. Nemanja Djordjevic (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 18
8. Alejandro Rodríguez (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto B) 18
9. Kenny Hatch (Huniko Gijón Basket) 18

PUNTOS

1. Martyce Kimbrough (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 30
2. Kenny Hatch (Huniko Gijón Basket) 29
3. Antón Bouzán (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto B) 21
4. Bryce Douvier (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto) 20
5. Kenny Ejim (Huniko Gijón Basket) 20

REBOTES

1. Felipe Braga (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto B) 15
2. Ryan Ejim (Huniko Gijón Basket) 11
3. Pieter Prinsloo (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 10
4. Bryce Douvier (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto) 8
5. Javier Menéndez (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 8

ASISTENCIAS

1. Pablo Bretón (Huniko Gijón Basket) 6
2. Alonso Meana (Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto B) 5
3. Martyce Kimbrough (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 4
4. Saúl Blanco (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 4
5. Pieter Prinsloo (Teslacard Círculo Gijón) 4

Por Asturbasket

http://www.asturbasket.com/noticias/estrella-asturbasket-de-la-semana-martyce-kimbrough-teslacard-circulo

POSTED ON DECEMBER 31, 2018 ●  By Jim Naveau – jnaveau@limanews.com

ORIGINAL STORY at https://www.limaohio.com/sports/334612/top-10-lima-area-sports-stories-area-college-basketeball-standouts-top-list

College basketball and high school golf lead the list of the The Lima News top 10 local sports stories of the year.

2018 was a year that stood out for the accomplishments of area athletes, as usual. It was a big year for firsts and history being made. It was also a big year for remembering and honoring past athletes.

It even was a year that was notable for something that didn’t happen after becoming a yearly occurrence along with the things that did happen.

The top 10 local sports stories of 2018:

1. Area players stand out in college basketball.

Lima Senior’s Xavier Simpson was the starting point guard for Michigan’s NCAA national runner-up team as a sophomore. Elida’s Dakota Mathias finished his career with more 3-point field goals than anyone in Purdue history and was named to the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team for a second consecutive season.

Bath’s Taren Sullivan was selected as an NCAA Division II All-American for the University of Findlay and finished his career with 1,595 points. Lima Central Catholic’s Martyce Kimbrough finished his career at Findlay with 1, 650 points in three seasons.

Kimbrough and Mathias are playing professional basketball in Spain and Sullivan is playing for the Stockton Kings of the G League, the NBA’s developmental league.

2. Lima Central Catholic wins the girls Division II state golf championship.

LCC’s state title was its first in girls golf. The Thunderbirds shot a 36-hole team total of 652 to win by 20 strokes over runner-up Shelby.

Mary Kelly Mulcahy led LCC with a two-day total of 152 (75-77). Erin Mulcahy was next at 155 (76-79), followed by Meghan Mulcahy at 165 (87-78), Emma Mayers at 181 (93-88) and Hannah Garver with a 185 (98-87).

3. Jerry Cooper returns to the area to become Shawnee High School’s head football coach.

Cooper, who coached a state champion team at Columbus Grove and orchestrated a dramatic turnaround at Lima Central Catholic, came back to Lima after four seasons of coaching in Tennessee to take over a Shawnee program that has struggled in recent years. Cooper’s teams at LCC, Columbus Grove and Bath reached the playoffs 16 times in 21 seasons. Shawnee finished 4-6 this season.

4. Ottawa-Glandorf’s Daniel Beemer wins the Division III 182-pound weight class wrestling state championship.

Beemer, the first O-G state wrestling champion, finished his season undefeated (41-0) and defeated two-time state champion Sam Stoll, of Milan Edison, 9-4 in the state championship match. Beemer had placed fourth in the state as a junior and fifth as a sophomore.

5. Pandora-Gilboa makes its first trip to the boys state basketball tournament and wins the Putnam County League and the Blanchard Valley Conference championships in the same season.

The Rockets finished the season with a 26-2 record and came within two points of eventual state champion Marion Local in a Division IV state semifinal game.

6. Ottoville’s Brendan Siefker repeats as state champion in the 1,600-meter run at the boys state track meet.

The senior runner also finished fourth in the 3,200-meter run and fifth in the 800 meters at the state meet.

7. 2018 is a big year for Hall of Fame honors.

Lima Senior established an Athletic Hall of Fame and stocked it with 26 athletes, five coaches, two state champion teams and four contributors in its first year.

Also, Deb (Elwer) Lindeman, a key player on two Delphos St. John’s girls basketball state champion teams, and Jackie (Motycka) Mossing, a standout at Crestview High School and Bowling Green State University, were inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.

Former Van Wert High School basketball coach Dave Froelich joined the Ohio High School Basketball Association Hall of Fame and former Kalida coach Jim McBride and current Minster coach Mike Wiss went into the Ohio Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

8. Ottawa-Glandorf’s girls basketball team reaches the state tournament for the fourth consecutive year, something only 11 schools have done since the tournament began in 1976.

The Titans were state runner-up in Division III in 2015, state runner-up in Division II in 2016 and state semifinalists in 2017 and 2018.

9. Delphos St. John’s celebrates 100 seasons of boys basketball.

One of the legendary basketball programs in Ohio high school basketball began in the 1918-1919 season with six players and a three-game schedule. Since then, the Blue Jays have made 12 trips to the state tournament and have been state champion three times.

10. The Midwest Athletic Conference does not win a state championship in football for the first time since 2009, but it does have five other team state champions – Minster in girls basketball, Marion Local in boys basketball, Minster in girls track and girls cross country, and Versailles in volleyball.

Reach Jim Naveau at 567-242-0414.

By Bob Seggerson – Guest Columnist

Originally published at: https://www.limaohio.com/sports/330181/kimbrough-calls-spain-hoops-home

For the past three years, Martyce Kimbrough’s view through his college dorm room window looked upon the quiet campus of the University of Findlay. Today, the scene outside his apartment is the bustling city center of Gijon, Spain, alive with outdoor restaurants, boutique shops, and families picnicking in the famed Jardin Botanico Park. While Kimbrough, a Lima Central Catholic graduate, may be immersed in a completely different culture, he continues to chase his lifelong dream. Kimbrough is in his first season as a professional basketball player, competing with Circulo Gijon in the Spanish Professional League.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to do what I love every single day and actually get paid for it,” Kimbrough says.

The Spanish Professional Leagues are considered the best basketball in the world after the NBA. There are six divisions in Spain and Circulo Gijon is in the third division. Dakota Mathias (Elida/Purdue University) is also competing in Spain with Divina Seguros Joventut, a first division club located in Barcelona.

Kimbrough describes the level of play in Spain as “demanding.” “I found out pretty quick that the basketball in this league is faster and more physical,” Kimbrough says. “There is a 24 second clock so there isn’t a lot of time to run specific plays. Many of the players are a lot older and experienced and very passionate.” The veteran players in the league are not about to make the game easy for a new young American who has brought his game to Spain.

“We had a scrimmage the day after I arrived against a first division club,” Kimbrough says. “I was still jet lagged but wanted to show what I could do. I drove the ball to the rim on my first possession against some big 7-footer and he sent the ball and me into the stands. I was sore for a week.”

Each team is limited to three Americans on their roster and much is expected of those players imported from the USA. If a team loses a game, the brunt of responsibility and consequences often weighs heavier on the American players.

Kimbrough’s roommate and fellow American is a player that basketball aficionados may remember. Robert Swift was a lottery pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2004 NBA draft, jumping directly to the NBA from high school. The 7-footer’s rise and fall in the NBA and resurrection in Spain, was the subject of recent Sport Illustrated story.

Kimbrough’s game has picked up right where he left off while playing at the University of Findlay where he scored more than 1,700 points and set numerous 3-point shooting records. He leads Circulo Gijon in scoring and 3-point shooting and is working hard at adjusting his game to the European style of play.

“The professional style of play here in Europe is different,” Kimbrough says. “In America, professional teams try to isolate their athletes to go one on one and there is a lot of deep 3-point shooting. Here, there is more ball movement and player movement, very little standing and reacting.” He compared it to the way the San Antonio Spurs play under coach Gregg Popovich. “I’m adapting my game to become more efficient with everything I do on the court,” he says.

His immersion into a new culture has come easily to Kimbrough. “The language barrier has not been too difficult,” Kimbrough says. “Almost everyone here speaks two languages (Spanish and English) and all my teammates are fluent in English. My coach only speaks Spanish, so in huddles he talks to the team and then he steps back and one of our teammates relays the information to the Americans. I’m also taking Spanish language lessons at night and I’m getting better at it every week.”

Kimbrough described his organized, daily routine. “I do a lot of stretching and yoga in the morning and try to be the first one on the court for our early practice so I can get in some extra shooting,” he says. “For lunch I’ll go to one of the four restaurants where we can eat for free. The food here is really great.”

Following the second practice of the day Kimbrough has learned to improvise because the club does not have an ice bath. “Some days I’ll walk down to San Lorenzo beach and take a cold swim in the Atlantic Ocean,” he says. In the evenings he follows the advice of one of his heroes, Kobe Bryant. “I meditate a couple times a day,” he says. “It helps me handle any stress.”

Circulo Gijon’s passionate fan base has made an impression on Kimbrough. “Soccer is the number one sport in Spain,” Kimbrough says, “but they love their basketball. The fans bang on drums, blow horns and scream chants the whole game.” Early in the season the team is fighting to even its record but Kimbrough remains optimistic. “Our chemistry is still forming and we’re getting better each game,” he says.

Martyce Kimbrough’s basketball journey has delivered him 3,871 miles from home. “I miss my family and friends and Kewpees,” he says. “But I’m happy and I’m still playing the game I love. I feel very blessed.”

Bob Seggerson is a retired boys basketball coach and guidance counselor at Lima Central Catholic. Reach him at bseggerson@lcchs.edu.