Central Bucks East’s Jacob Cummiskey makes statement in season-opening win over William Tennent

What a difference the summer has made for Central Bucks East’s Jacob Cummiskey.

The senior point guard flirted during the summer with Philadelphia Catholic League power Archbishop Wood, which is led by Miami-bound Jalil Bethea. In fact, Cummiskey played on the Vikings’ summer league team in 2022.

But after recording 29 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in a 79-73 victory over William Tennent in the first round of the Pennridge Memorial Tournament Friday night, one thing became clear: East is Cummiskey’s squad.

“It was more so what do I want for myself — It’s a great program,” Cummiskey said of Archbishop Wood. “It was a great opportunity. CB East is my home, and that’s where I have been my whole life. I decided my friends meant more to me than basketball.”

Cummiskey and the CB’s squad would like nothing more than another shot at the Vikings after losing to them in the first round of state playoffs last season.

“I couldn’t be more happier,” Cummiskey said of staying at East. “Maybe I would have gone further in states, but guess what, I have friends for life. I want to see [Archbishop Wood] again. I think we have what it takes to beat them.”

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Cummiskey was a sixth man as a freshman, and he’s aiming to help the Patriots to their fourth consecutive Suburban One League Colonial title as a three-year starter.

“I know one thing and that is this team is coming for a district championship,” Cummiskey said.

However, Cummiskey, a captain, admitted he was a bit nervous heading into Friday’s opener, considering the team still had some figuring out to do in preseason.

“We were coming off the Abington scrimmage where we got tossed around,” Cummiskey said. “Scrimmaged Saturday; Archbishop Ryan and Cristo Rey really handed it to us. That was picking at us. We came out and said, ‘We need five dogs at all times.’”

It wasn’t only the Cummiskey show on Friday. CB East got points from six different players even with 6-foot-6 senior center Miles Demby missing time due to an injury.

Still, it looked like it could all go to waste with the way William Tennent senior Kirby Mooney was playing. Mooney scored 25 of his game-high 31 points in the first three quarters in a one-on-one battle with Cummiskey, who’s his 17U Penn Warriors teammate.

“We play AAU all summer together,” Cummiskey said. “I am good friends with him, but on the court he ain’t my friend. I had to lay it to him. I gave him some buckets, but he gave me some buckets. Respect to him. We know what he can do. He led the SOL in scoring.”

East didn’t seem to have an answer for Mooney through the first three quarters as he scored from every way imaginable, including pull-up jumpers, dunks, and three pointers. He scored 17 points in the first half as Tennent clung to a 37-34 advantage.

Mooney added seven more in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 54-52 lead before the fourth.

”That was all of the focus,” said CB East head coach Erik Henrysen of stopping Mooney. “We were trying to not let other guys go off, too. [Chris] D’Ambra kind of did. We wanted to crowd [Mooney], but he still made plays.”

D’Ambra finished with 26 points, including nine in the fourth. Mooney cooled off as East went to a zone at times.

”We got two really good practices in which we were preaching about playing at the speed we did last year,” Cummiskey said. “We had Joey Giordano last year, who brought tempo to the offense. We put that on display tonight and we were luckily able to come out with more points than Tennent. Respect to them, they have some good players. They showed up, but so did we.”

Mooney started off the scoring in the final frame with a putback, but CB East guard Bryce Lolas’ thee-pointer with 6:39 remaining gave them a 57-56 lead it didn’t relinquish.

Cummiskey’s floater in the lane with 4:19 remaining also gave the Patriots a 64-60 lead while six different players scored in the fourth, which saw East shoot 14 of 16 from the free-throw line.

”When you have a great player, everyone wants him,” Henrysen said. “[Cummiskey] decided we were the place for him, and we are really happy about that.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.