Gingerich earns All-State honors

The phenomenal season for Iowa Mennonite?s Eli Gingerich resulted in his being named the Southeast Iowa Super Conference?s North Division player of the year.

Now, he?s an All-Stater.

On Tuesday, Gingerich was named a second-team all-state selection by the Iowa Newspaper Association as a junior.

?He?s made great strides from a year ago,? Iowa Mennonite boys? basketball head coach Dwight Gingerich said. ?Each year, he has extended his role on the team. As a freshman, he was the first guard off the bench, then as a sophomore started at the point. He was going to move the ball to our scorers.?

In his junior year, Eli used both his scoring and passing ability to earn the All State nomination.

He ended the season as the team?s leading scorer with 14.8 points per game, and had 120 assists on the season (5.2 per game).

?Eli likes to pass the ball,? Dwight Gingerich said. ?He?s really a pass first kind of guy. He certainly became a scorer for us, but he enjoys getting the ball to other people and that?s a part of the game he thrives at.?

The 120 assists put Eli in the Top 10 of the IMS single-season record books, while he is in the Top 10 for career assists and 3-pointers made.

Eli also broke the single-season record for free-throw percentage hitting on 89.5 percent of his attempts, while putting himself in third place in school history for most consecutive free throws made, with 27.

?This year, offensively, he had to pick it up a level,? Dwight Gingerich said. ?He had to work to create his shots a bit more and was our leading scorer. Through the conference season, he averaged about 15.3 points per game, but then people started using box-1 and (he) might have only taken two shots in the first tournament game, but he had 13 assists.?

As Eli looks to his senior season, Dwight Gingerich knows there are things Eli can improve on.

?There?s room for improvement for him as he gets stronger and is able to absorb contact a little better,? Dwight Gingerich said. ?I?m sure he?ll get better at that. He?s a glue guy for us, in addition to scoring. He did a nice job giving leadership to our team on the floor with (senior) Kirby Shetler, as the two captains.?

Eli wasn?t the only IMS member receiving honors this week, as his coach and father, Dwight, was recognized during the championship game at the 2A state tournament for his 600th win earlier this season.

Dwight has 609 career wins, all coming at Iowa Mennonite, and said it was a good experience.

?You?d always rather be out there playing (at the state tournament), but it was a good experience to be up there with family together and it?s a reflection of the tremendous support I?ve had with players and parents and administration,?

Dwight Gingerich said. ?I couldn?t do it without the players who put in the work and give of themselves over those years. It?s been fun.?