Millersburg Military Institute Tops Host Huntington St. Joseph 54-45 to Win St. Joe Invitational
by Grant TraylorHuntington News Network Sportswriter
Huntington (HNN) — Millersburg (Ky.) Military Institute had two totally different games in winning the St. Joe Invitational AA/A championship this week.
In the first game, MMI scored 91 points and had nine high-flying dunks in defeating Williamson and advancing to the championship against host Huntington St. Joseph.
That would not be the case on Friday night, Jan. 28, 2005 as the Cadets had to play scrappy defense in order to pick up a 54-45 victory in the championship game and capture their second win of the year over the Irish.
Huntington St. Joseph proved to be a much more difficult opponent than in the first meeting where MMI won 66-39 after only leading by eight at the half.
In this contest, the Irish got down early, but clawed back against the much taller and physical Cadets.
St. Joseph (5-8) took its first lead at 33-31 on a jumper by Adam Simmons and then found themselves ahead again 35-33 on a steal and lay-up by Vinny Cheeks.
However, that is where MMI would take over as Kevin Graves scored seven in a row during a 9-0 run to put the Cadets ahead for good.
Graves scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to ensure that the Cadets would leave Huntington a winner.
Graves also hounded Cheeks down the stretch and forced the Irish into several second half turnovers. According to St. Joe coach Mike Hornbuckle, those late mistakes were a big part of why his team was on the losing end of the game.
The Cadets (12-3) brought the entire school to cheer on the team and near the end of the game, they could be heard loudly as they helped cheer their team to victory with many chants in unison, including “Sit down, Irish” and “Who Am I? MMI!”
Cheeks led St. Joe with 17 points while Adam Simmons contributed 14 points on the inside.
Graves was the only Cadet in double-figures.
These teams will renew acquaintances at St. Joe High School on Feb. 22, 2005 when MMI returns to Huntington in search of a season sweep.
View Photos from the Game.