Missouri Military Academy is hoping for a better second half to the season.

MMA did have a better second half on Tuesday in a 66-47 loss to Sunnydale Adventist Academy at home. The Colonels (3-12) outscored Sunnydale, who lost to MMA twice last year, 29-24 in the second half and accounted for nine of the first 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Head coach Gil Hooker said Sunnydale was hurting MMA in transition and on the offensive glass. Hooker said the Colonels allowed too many fastbreak and second chance points, and they ended up trailing 42-18 at halftime.

MMA vs Sunnydale Photo Gallery

“I put a little more emphasis on boxing out and also rebounding,” Hooker said. “We actually blitzed a little bit more out of our 2-3 base defense, which caused a little bit more turnovers and took away some of their possessions.”

The second half was much more frenetic for both teams than the first half. Sunnydale scored quickly off turnovers in the first half, but MMA showed they can push the ball to the rim after halftime.

“Sunnydale did a good job in the first half to run a 1-2-2 press,” Hooker said. “They were taking the ball from us, and we were making lazy passes going into trap zones. As soon as they got the ball, they were sprinting the floor. Our guys weren’t sprinting.”

Todbileg Boldbataar led MMA with 20 points, Buya Nyamdavaa followed with seven points, 11 rebounds and four steals, and Elbegbayar Batbayar, Levi Foster and Kennedy Barchigei each had six points. Sherif Aref, a freshman transfer from Texas, had two points for his first varsity points. Barchigei also had four steals. 

Hooker said two of his starters — Gihana Neza and senior Bryce McIlwain — were unavailable. Junior varsity players had to step up to fill their spots on the roster. 

“They did a good job of playing a role they don’t usually play,” Hooker said. “You got to do what you got to do.”

Boldbataar knocked down two 3-pointers and hit shots from a variety of spots against Sunnydale. Hooker said that is typical for the senior. 

“He’s a four-layer scorer,” Hooker said. “He can score from the three, he can from midrange and he can hit free throws even though he went 1-for-3 on free throws.”

Hooker said Boldbataar is the team’s third leading scorer. Levi Foster leads the team with 15 points per game, and Barchigei averages 12 points. Hooker said Foster has made the transition from a defensive player to an offensive player.

Barchigei made the all-tournament team at the Belle tournament, where MMA finished 0-3 about a week prior to playing Sunnydale. The Colonels finished that tournament with a competitive 50-45 loss to Chamois. Hooker said there were some positives he saw from that tournament.

“I’ve been trying to emphasize more attacking so we can get to the free throw line,” Hooker said. “In the Belle tournament, we did really well at shooting free throws. That’s a good strategy to either get them in foul trouble or get extra opportunities scoring.”

Hooker credited Sunnydale with having a talented and athletic squad, particularly freshman Aiden Cowan, who led Sunnydale with 19 points. Philip Onek had 13 points and 10 rebounds was another kid who helped hurt MMA in the paint and on offensive rebounds.

“They outhustled us,” Hooker said. “That is basically the reason for losing tonight.”

MMA will play Sunnydale again in February, and Hooker said his team will be ready. Hooker, who led the Colonels to their third-most wins of 11 last season following two wins the prior season, also said this MMA team is capable of having a better second half of the season.

“At this point, I think double-digit wins would be good, even though that would be a losing season,” Hooker said. “It would be a stepping stone because we have a lot of young guys. Most of our leaders are juniors, and we have two seniors. The goal is to retain a lot of this talent.”