Alex Niemeyer, a senior on this year’s Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team, leaped at the ball underneath the basket in an attempt to keep possession for the Ravens.

It didn’t work.

No worries. What did matter was the effort.

Dwight Gingerich, a guy who is in his 40^th year of coaching basketball and building young men, sat on the Hillcrest bench and encouraged Niemeyer with a shout: “Good try, Alex. Good job!”

Soon, Gingerich and the Ravens jumped off the bench to celebrate the team’s 63-26 victory Saturday over Rivermont Collegiate. They high-fived each other. They smiled. They enjoyed the moment. And then they lined up for the postgame handshake line.

This was, in many ways, just like any other of the 910 games that Gingerich has coached at Hillcrest Academy and Iowa Mennonite School.

Except it wasn’t.

Spectators on both sides of the court, which already bears the name of Dwight Gingerich, rose to their feet and began applauding in recognition of Gingerich’s 700^th career win, all at the same school. The Ravens players stood at mid-court, applauding their coach. And so did members of the Rivermont team.

One of the most humble men you’ll ever meet, Gingerich stood there, surrounded by current players, former players, possible future players, family, friends, listening to the applause.

“It’s special. To be here and know that I was part of the team that did it,” said Noah Miller, a HIllcrest Academy senior. “Obviously it’s not just us, though; all the teams before. We wouldn’t be able to get there without the teams before.”

Remember, this is a coach who didn’t mention the number 700 to his players. Never. Not last year. Not last week. Not even before Saturday’s game, when Iowa basketball history was beckoning – Gingerich is just the sixth coach in Iowa hoops history to reach 700 wins. He is simply too humble to mention such a thing to his players, even when desperation at a key moment in a game would call for some sort of emotional motivation.

“He hasn’t said a word,” Miller said. “He’s such a humble guy. I really look up to him in that.”

The Ravens knew.

Even last year, Hillcrest players had already done the math. They figured a really good season might have given Gingerich his 700^th last season. They were close. Four wins close.

“I knew there was a little bit of that,” Gingerich said of the chatter among his players a year ago.

And now the chatter is no longer a whisper.

Looking for a coach of the year candidate, Iowa basketball? Well, here you go.

“It’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of,” said Grant Bender, a junior forward who scored 21 points in Saturday’s win. “700 wins is crazy. I’m happy for him.”

The news rolled through the basketball world quickly Saturday. Don Showalter, a 10-time gold medal winner as coach of USA Basketball youth world teams and a former coach at Mid-Prairie, congratulated Gingerich with a note on Twitter: “Congrats to an amazing coach and long time coaching friend Dwight Gingerich on win #700! One of the top coaches anywhere!”

Marty Gingerich (no relation), Hillcrest’s cross country coach, smiled as he watched the postgame celebration.

“It’s so impressive he’s had the most wins at one school,” he said.

Among those to return to Hillcrest for the night was Jason Rhodes, Gingerich’s brother-in-law and a former player for him at Hillcrest. Rhodes is now the basketball coach at Oak Lawn High School in suburban Chicago.

After speaking to the crowd over a microphone after the game, Gingerich went from spectator to spectator, thanking them for coming and talking history. This was not only HIllcrest’s longtime basketball coach speaking to them, but the school’s principal as well.

And that’s what touches Gingerich most of all. The community. He didn’t spend Saturday night talking about his greatest wins or achievements, not even the state championship that Iowa Mennonite won in 1992. The conversations instead were of community and relationships.

“That process, the nurturing of relationships. Building a sense of community within the team,” Gingerich said. “The idea that we all benefit from encouragement from one another. We nurture each other into becoming better teammates and better people with each other. Ultimately, it’s about showing Christ love to each other.”

In case you’re wondering, the basketball will keep bouncing over at HIllcrest and Coach Gingerich will be Coach Gingerich for quite some time.

“This is all good,” he said with a smile. “But let’s keep going.”

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul.