Even for brothers, Nelly and Brandin Cummings are tight.
“They’re extremely close and always have been,” said their father, Renell. “Nelly’s the big brother, the protector. No one is able to do or say anything to Brandin without his permission.”
After a historic night in Midland, the Cummings brothers now own a special spot in WPIAL history.
Playing in a gym that sits what his dad called “a football throw away” from where the boys lived for most of their childhoods, Brandin “Beebah” Cummings achieved two major career milestones Friday while leading top-seeded and defending champion Lincoln Park to a 93-63 win against visiting Freeport in a WPIAL Class 4A first-round game.
Cummings, a 6-foot-4 senior guard and Pitt recruit, scored 23 points in the game, the most memorable coming on a 3-pointer in the first quarter and a runner in the third. The first of those buckets pushed Cummings to 2,000 points for his career, a milestone also achieved by Nelly, who poured in 2,411 (seventh most in WPIAL history) from 2013-17. Chartiers Valley greats T.J. and Matty McConnell had been the only brother duo to each reach 2,000 points.
Speaking of the McConnells, the second of Brandin’s memorable baskets helped the Cummings brothers move ahead of the McConnells to become the highest-scoring brother tandem in WPIAL history. The McConnells combined to score 4,422 points and the Cummings boys now have 4,430 … and counting.
“It means a lot,” said Brandin, who entered the game needing four points to reach 2,000. “We’ve worked so hard our whole lives. To finally have something that marks our greatness, it really means the world to me and my brother.”
Big brother was unable to witness history in person, but he did watch from his apartment in Bulgaria. Nelly is in his first season playing professional basketball there and actually had a game earlier in the day, scoring 16 points in a one-point loss. But like he does for nearly all of his younger brother’s games, Nelly stayed up late for what was a 2 a.m. local tip-off.
“It’s hard to put it into words,” Nelly said. “It’s a special thing for sure. We definitely put a lot of work in, and it’s great to see the fruits of our labor. It’s a great feeling. I’m excited for him and excited for us. It’s history.”
Star junior Meleek Thomas pumped in a game-high 30 points for Lincoln Park to increase his career total to 1,581, while Rhaki Lum added 17 points and Dorian McGhee 16. The Leopards (20-3) led, 46-31, at the half before using a 28-15 advantage in the third quarter to start pulling away. Freeport, which qualified for the playoffs by winning its final section game, knocked down 12 3-pointers and was led by Brady Sullivan’s 17 points.
Following Brandin Cummings’ 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the opening quarter that officially gave him 2,002 points, the game was stopped briefly to honor the milestone, and Cummings shared a moment with some family. The milestone came seven years after big brother scored his 2,000th point. Nelly Cummings reached the mark Jan. 27, 2017, in a 92-55 win against New Brighton, a game in which he finished with 30 points.
“It’s kind of neat to put the stamp on the great legacy for the Cummings boys at Lincoln Park,” said Renell, who has trained Nelly and Brandin since they were young.
Unlike Nelly, who started the first game of his freshman season, Brandin was one of the first players off the bench for the first half of his ninth-grade year before becoming a full-time starter later in that season. It turns out that was by design.
“We wanted him to be hungrier because we knew what he was going to be,” said Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski, who has coached both brothers.
Playing in his brother’s large shadow early on, it wasn’t long before Brandin made his own mark, and he has been filling the basket in bunches ever since. And while he and Nelly are brothers, they definitely aren’t twins when it comes to what they do on the court.
“They’re totally different players,” Bariski said. “Totally different size. Different length. They score differently. But both of them are unbelievable competitors. That’s the big thing that they have in common. They don’t want to lose.”
Of those losses, there haven’t been many. Brandin Cummings now is 87-18 in his Lincoln Park career. He has won two WPIAL titles and a PIAA title. Nelly was 103-16 in his career with a WPIAL and PIAA title.
“They’re just a different breed,” their father said. “They’re constantly in the gym. They’re craftsmen, they can score the ball, and they’re winners.”
While scoring all those points has been nice, Brandin said he has been most focused on helping Lincoln Park defend its WPIAL and PIAA titles. The Leopards have won three PIAA titles, but have never gone back to back. Next up for the Leopards is No. 8-seeded Knoch (15-8) Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
“We know what our goals are,” Cummings said. “We know what our ceiling is, so every game, no matter what the accomplishment is, we just want to go out there and win because we know at the end of the season we want to be WPIAL champions and state champions again.”
Just as Brandin Cummings followed in his brother’s footsteps at Lincoln Park, he will do the same at Pitt when he begins his career there in the fall.
Big brother just couldn’t be happier.
“I can’t wait,” Nelly said. “It’s going to be a great feeling.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.