Lincoln Park’s Cummings joins special club
Senior hits 2K-point mark, part of exclusive company WPIAL boys basketball playoffs
The WPIAL basketball playoffs brought another ho-hum win for Lincoln Park as the Leopards won their 20th game of the season and 14th by 15 or more points.
But for Lincoln Park senior Brandin Cummings, the game was anything but ordinary. There are 2,000 reasons why it was memorable for Cummings.
Cummings joined some elite company when he scored 23 points Friday night as Lincoln Park (20-3) cruised past visiting Freeport (7-15), 93-63, in a Class 4A first-round game. With the effort, Cummings became only the 35th boy in WPIAL boys history to score 2,000 points. He now has 2,019 — and joins his brother at the table of 2,000 scorers. Nelly Cummings, who played at Lincoln Park from 2013-17, is seventh on the WPIAL all-time scoring list with 2,411 points.
Brandin and Nelly Cummings are only the second brother combination in WPIAL history to score 2,000 points. The other is Chartiers Valley’s T.J. McConnell and Matty McConnell. T.J. had 2,404 points from 200610, and Matty 2,018 from 2011-15.
In the win against Freeport, Cummings scored 23 points. A pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter gave Cummings the four points he needed to eclipse 2,000. However, teammate Meleek Thomas earned high-scoring honors with 30 points, including 18 in the first half.
Freeport was led by Brady Sullivan (17) and Brian Kijowski (16).
Also in Class 4A
Knoch 52, Beaver 48: Derek Lang and Teegan Finucan combined for 31 points as Knoch (15-8) rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat visiting Beaver (12-11) in a first-round game. Lang scored 17 points and Finucan had 14. Brady Mayo topped the Bobcats with 17.
Hampton 66, Central Valley 55:
Peter Kramer and Liam Mignogna combined for 46 points as No. 2 seed Hampton (20-3) posted a victory against visiting Central Valley (15-8). Kramer scored 24 points and was 7-8 from the foul line. Mignogna had 22 points and was perfect on seven free throws. Central Valley’s Isaiah Jeter topped all scorers with 27 points.
South Allegheny 71, Belle Vernon 62:
South Allegheny’s Michael Michalski and Belle Vernon’s Zion Moore tied for high scoring honors with 22 points, but the No. 7 seeded Gladiators (17-6) came away with a victory against the visiting Leopards (12-9). Moore was the WPIAL’s leading scorer during the regular season with a 26.3 average.
North Catholic 73, Elizabeth Forward 53:
North Catholic (148) built a 43-21 halftime lead en route to the win against Elizabeth Forward (14-8). Max Hurray led the Trojans with 24 points. It was the sixth consecutive first-round loss for Elizabeth Forward..
Montour 77, Southmoreland 44:
Southmoreland has only three playoff wins in school history and Montour (20-3) made sure it stayed that way with an easy win against the visiting Scotties (16-7). Ama Sow (18), Kaleb Platz (17) and Jake Wolfe (16) combined for 51 points for the No. 3 seed Spartans.
Uniontown 64, Quaker Valley 45:
Quaker Valley had made it to at least the quarterfinals in 12 consecutive seasons from 2011-22. But the Quakers lost in the first round for the second consecutive season, this time at No. 4 seed Uniontown (203). Jamire Braxton scored 16 points and Isaac Ellsworth had 15, all on 3s, for the Raiders. Joe Coyle had 20 for the Quakers (11-12).
Class 1A Carlynton 55, Jeerson-Morgan 41:
Jake Moldovan tallied 19 points to lead No. 6 seed Carlynton (7-15) to the win and keep Jefferson-Morgan (13-10) from winning only its third playoff game in school history. Jase Bedilion led Jefferson-Morgan with 17 points.
Monessen 78, Summit Academy 56:
Monessen’s Lorenzo Gardner had one of the best scoring performances in Class 1A playoff history as he poured in 44 in the Greyhounds’ win against visiting Summit Academy (4-13). It was the secondhighest point total in a Class 1A playoff game.
West Greene 58, Avella 47:
Parker Burns scored 20 points to help West Greene (16-7) get only its second playoff win in school history. The Pioneers were 1-10, with the only win coming in 1991. The 16 victories are also the most for the Pioneers since 1992.
Rochester 73, St. Joseph 28: No. 3 seed Rochester (16-6) outscored visiting St. Joseph (320) by 49-20 in the first half and rolled to an easy win. Xavier Rigby had 23 for Rochester, while Anthony Zavolta topped the Spartans with 11.
Aquinas Academy 84, California 50: Jacob Guillen tallied 37 points and connected on seven 3s as No. 7 seed Aquinas Academy (15-8) dominated visiting California (7-16). Sam Duer added 22 for the Crusaders.
Class 5A Woodland Hills 64, Trinity 42:
Amere Brown and Lamar Williams each had 14 points to lead Woodland Hills (9-13) to a preliminary-round win against host Trinity (10-13) . Williams also had 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots, while Brown had four 3s. Anthony Giorgi had 12 points for the Hillers.