A cool 753 career victories for Hillcrest Academy’s Dwight Gingerich

WAYLAND — This was old school. So incredibly, delightfully old school.

Hillcrest Academy’s boys’ basketball team was going through warm-ups just before its game Friday night at WACO, and it was sort of striking how it went about it.

You had a couple of players out beyond the 3-point arc taking practice shots, the other guys surrounding the lane and rebounding for a teammate who was at the free-throw line. He’d take two shots, then everyone rotated to the left.

Then as halftime neared conclusion, and the Ravens warmed up at the other end of the gym, you noticed something else striking. Players practiced gimme shots right underneath the hoop to the left and right of the backboard, gradually progressing their way outward to the five, eight and 10-foot range.

No one seems to do it this way anymore. Kids come out of the locker room and camp around the arc, repeatedly firing up 3s.

“Warm-ups are kind of the same as they’ve always been,” Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich said, after his team avenged its only loss this season, 48-45. “I don’t think I’ve changed that. I feel like that’s kind of an important time to do things right.”

How in the world can you possibly argue with the man about it? He’s forgotten more about basketball than most everyone has ever known.

This is Gingerich’s 43rd season at Hillcrest, known as Iowa Mennonite School until a rebrand in 2019. He has a 753-233 career record, the win total fourth all-time in Iowa, as he surpassed Al Marshall (Cascade, Cascade Aquin) and Dan Beck (Easton Valley, Preston) this season.

They are retired. Gingerich, also the Hillcrest principal, doesn’t appear anywhere near that point.

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“No idea how much longer. I don’t even think about it, honestly,” he said. “I think it’s just the kids. To see them improve each year and become a team is very gratifying. They kind of keep letting me do it, so I’ve got to enjoy it, you know? I love being in the gym.”

Gingerich apologized when he was asked about his very first game as a head coach. He couldn’t remember the final score, just that it came in 1981 and was a win over Shellsburg.

It’s people who are way more important than that stuff. He talked about how a former player was in attendance for Friday’s game, knowing off the top of his head that he was in the Class of 2018.

He also noted how Jase Bailey, the father of starters Bryce and Kale Bailey, was on IMS state tournament teams in 1998 and 2000. Senior Mason Bender is another Hillcrest starter, and his father, Stephen, played for Gingerich and is his main assistant coach.

“Dwight, he’s got a legacy around these parts,” Mason Bender said. “He has won a state championship, has made it to state quite a few times. He’s just a really solid coach all around, knows his stuff. Practices, he kind of frames them around the teams we are going to play. We worked on (WACO) all week. Coach just has very good basketball knowledge.”

“He’s a legend, an amazing coach,” said senior guard Seth Ours. “And he’s an amazing guy ... (It’s) just his longevity, what he’s been able to do over the years. Not just coaches his players, but he cares for them outside of the game and kind of changes them into young men. Being a good role model is huge, I think a lot of people would (agree with) that.”

Speaking of the state tournament: Gingerich has led 12 teams there, including a Class 1A title in 1992 and runner-up finishes in 1991, 1998, 2005 and 2007. It has been 13 years, however, since Iowa Mennonite/Hillcrest Academy has made it to Des Moines.

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This team would seem to have a chance. It is 15-1 going into this week, with a roster that includes four seniors and six juniors.

That’s uncommon experience for a school with an enrollment of 72. That enrollment actually has grown from a low of 37.

“We’ve had some leaner years, the numbers in our program have been down,” Gingerich said. “This is the first year where we’d had, like, 12 on our varsity. It feels great to have those numbers back. I think just kind of coming through the leaner years and still being able to be competitive felt good. I feel like we’ve got a lot of guys who have bought in.”

The leaner years honestly haven’t been too lean. The school hasn’t had a losing season since 1995-96. Gingerich has had only four in his career, including the first three.

He took a one-season sabbatical in 2000-01 to coach at Goshen College in Indiana.

“We knew this would be a good year for us,” Ours said. “Everyone coming back, we’re a little more experienced this year. Last year was kind of get a feel for it. Now we still have some inexperience, but everyone kind of knows what they’re doing. We’ve worked really hard, and we knew we could do some damage.”

“This has been a great group to coach,” Gingerich said. “It’s a group that likes each other, which always helps. The team spirit is good, and they are willing to work hard, which is not something you get every year. They are willing to get after it.”

And so is their coach, even after four decades.

“He came into our locker room after the game tonight, and we were kind of cheering,” Ours said with a laugh. “He kind of did this little dance that he’s never done before. It was funny, so funny. Obviously he’s got a lot of energy. He still has a lot of energy.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com