ELGIN — Clever as they are, Izzy and Gabby Cummins figured they could get away with it. As twins, you have to use your identical traits to your advantage.
So one day, way back in the third grade, the lively twin sisters decided to execute “The Parent Trap”–like switch and flip-flop classes.
Their mom even made the mole on Izzy’s face — one of the few traits to distinguish the inseparable pair of junior basketball stars.
In separate classes for the whole day, Izzy walked into Gabby’s class hoping to pull the stunt off. It was worth a try.
“All of our friends ratted her out,” Gabby laughed retelling their scheme. “‘That’s not Gabby!’ The teacher said, ‘If you’re not Gabby, I’m sending you to the principal’s office.’”
Like any twin, Izzy did the noble thing. She stood up for her sister and lied.
“I sat down and said, ‘I’m Gabby,’” Izzy recalled.
Eight years later, the Cummins’ ‘twisters’ — nicknamed that by their mom — are still trying to use their lookalike expertise to fool others.
Their teammates — at least the veterans — on Elgin’s 19-3 basketball team, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, are not fooled.
“They try and use it on the court too,” Elgin senior Christina Jenkins said.
“All of a sudden, whoop whoop! We do it to freshmen a lot,” Gabby laughed.
Similar but different
Like all twins, Izzy and Gabby are similar in many ways, but they are also different, particularly on the court.
“We’re polar opposites,” Gabby laughed. “Izzy shoots the ball every time she touches it and I don’t shoot it ever. She’s really good at shooting and that’s why I don’t shoot.” Though perceived to be farfetched in most identical siblings, telekinetic communication between these twins is very real.
“I swear they are telepathic,” Jenkins said.
There is proof.
“A couple games ago, I was standing right under the goal,” Gabby recalled. “Izzy was not looking at me at all. I didn’t say, ‘Izzy!’ or anything. I was back cutting and she threw it right into my hands.”
Gabby is the lockdown defender, almost always given the opponent’s toughest offensive weapon to guard.
“Gabby is our hard-nosed, go play hard every possession. She does it more than anybody else on the team,” Elgin coach Brett Tahah said. “She’s gonna try to do the little things right every single time. She’s a very coachable kid who brings a lot to the table.”
Life isn’t always as glamorous for the twin who may only score a few buckets while holding the best player to single digits, but it is just as rewarding.
“It’s not easy to be that person,” Tahah said. “Gabby being able to have the mentality to come do that every single night and understand she’s not going to get recognized for it takes a special kind of kid.”
Izzy is the dazzling outside shooter and prolific scorer whose role is to look to score when she has a chance.
“They both know their strengths,” Tahah said. “They both have different roles that they buy into in a way to help the team out tremendously.”
While their styles of play are vastly different, their coach knows one thing that remains the same with the twins: consistency.
“They are consistent players and I know exactly what I’m going to get from each of them,” Tahah said. “I know every single game they are going to play their butts off. They play hard every single possession and that’s something you love to see as a coach.”
To no surprise, one facet of the game Izzy and Gabby are eerily similar in is ball handling. Both alleviate defensive pressure and rarely make mistakes.
“Having multiple ball handlers is great for any coach,” Tahah said of boasting Izzy and Gabby in the backcourt. “Sometimes coaches struggle to find one point guard. Having that pressure relief and trusting that any of my kids can bring the ball up the court is huge going down the road.”
It also makes life easier on Paige Pendley, Christina Jenkins and Kailah Ballou so they can go to work in the front court.
“It’s like an extra weight lifted off your shoulders,” said Ballou, a junior. “We don’t have to worry about anything.”
Power struggle
There are both perks and downsides to being twins. Knowing each other almost too well falls into both categories, often stirring up debates of who is right and who is wrong.
“We get along,” Izzy said. “We only fight when one of us thinks they are right which turns into a heated argument. We just stay stupid stuff.”
Example A: the twins fought over Heisman winner Baker Mayfield just the other day. Izzy thought Mayfield, who walked onto the OU football team, still wasn’t getting college paid for with a scholarship. In a polite “sisterly” sort of way, Gabby told Izzy she was wrong.
“So I pushed her in class and she reared her arm back and slapped me in the face,” Izzy laughed.
“It wasn’t on the face. It was on the arm,” Gabby interjected.
Ah, sisterly love.
“This is what I put up with,” Tahah said.
There is plenty to split and share — including clothes.
“The other day Izzy took my shorts out of the dryer and said they were hers,” Gabby said with an eye roll.
“No, they weren’t hers,” Izzy interrupted as a second heated debate began. “So yeah, sharing stuff is definitely the worst thing about being a twin.”
Another debate between the twins is future plans including college and basketball.
For now, the sisters haven’t thought about it much but are leaning towards a small school in Oklahoma. Staying together is up in the air.
“They’ll probably end up together,” said junior Paige Pendley, sandwiched between the twins. After moving in from Cyril, Pendley has practically become the adopted triplet, always playing peacekeeper.
“I never see them mad at each other,” Pendley said. “Whatever the argument is, it doesn’t last very long, and they get over it pretty quick like most sisters.”
Even in the midst of their silly arguments, it’s clear Izzy and Gabby only want what’s best for their twin.
“They love each other, care for each other and they genuinely want both this team and each other to succeed on and off the court,” Tahah said.
When it’s all said and done, it’d be safe to bet the house Izzy and Gabby end up together.
“Izzy knows she can’t live without me,” Gabby said with a grin.
Twin sisters hoping for twinning titles
Elgin’s chances to make the 4A State tournament are high. Winning it all while taking down the likes of No. 1 Ft. Gibson or No. 2 Harrah is also high. The twins share that belief.
“There’s a tradition that’s been set here at Elgin and we just want to continue that,” Izzy said.
In two down-to-the-wire meetings, the Owls split with No. 4 Anadarko, dismantled 3A No. 6 Washington and beat 5A No. 7 MacArthur to win the Newcastle Tournament with ease. Elgin also went toe-to-toe with Class 2A powerhouse No. 3 Dale.
The twins make the Lady Owls click. The rest of the core — Pendley, Jenkins and Ballou — makes them dangerous.
“We all love each other and we all really want each other to do well so we play passive,” Gabby said. “We all have really good chemistry because we’ve played together so long then over the summer we gelled with Paige. She’s really fit into the group well.”
“These girls have made it feel like I’m home,” Pendley echoed.
Elgin’s starting five — consisting of the twins, Pendley, Jenkins and Ballou — is as good as or better than any team in Class 4A. The starters are averaging 15, 14, 13, 9 and 5 points per game. That last number, Gabby, plays the best defense on the team and stuffs the stat sheet in several other ways.
More than anything, Tahah has enjoyed watching Izzy and Gabby mature over the years — both as players and individuals.
“They’ve shown a huge sense of maturity,” Tahah said. “I’ve seen a huge transformation out of those two — both on the basketball floor and off it, becoming better people — just in the year and a half I’ve known them. As a coach, it’s a blessing to see kids grow and change like that.”
With all the development their junior year, exponential growth could be in store for the twins when senior year rolls around.
Also elite cross country and track athletes, Izzy and Gabby helped the Owls to a third place team finish at State cross country last fall.
The twins both enjoy basketball more, but they’ve taken lessons from their success in running and applied it to basketball. And not just the conditioning and endurance boost.
“Encouragement has been our biggest takeaway,” Izzy said. “When you’re running if you get down on yourself, then you go slow — really slow. In basketball if your team gets down, it’s tough to come back so we try to be positive and encourage our teammates.”
In spite of their friendly arguments, encouragement has made the twins closer than ever. That encouragement has rubbed off on their fellow Owls, who are about to go title hunting when 4A playoffs begin this Saturday with Elgin hosting Harding Charter.
“We’re hoping to get two state championships,” Gabby said. “That’s what we’re working on.”
Twin titles for twins? Now that’s something Izzy and Gabby can agree to share.