Picayune moved up to third in the state wide prep basketball poll on Tuesday.

The unbeaten Maroon Tide then went out and proved to new Region 8-4A foe D’Iberville why they are considered one of the state’s best.

Picayune smashed the visiting Warriors in a contest pitting defending region champs 72-39. The win moves the Maroon Tide to 9-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in league play.

D’Iberville, which won the Region 7-4A title last season, drops to 1-8 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Picayune’s Dandy Dozen standout senior Chris Dees wasted no time in setting the tone in the win, as he tallied 11 points with some strong inside moves in the opening quarter and the Maroon Tide jumped out to a 16-9 lead. Reshun Smith, who had a big game in the opening league win over St. Stanislaus last week, drove the Warriors down for good in the final minute of the first half as he nailed a long 3-pointer with :53 seconds to go before halftime and then converted an old fashioned three point play with just three seconds left to make the count 35-17 at halftime.

Dees paced Picayune with 18 points in the win, Smith added 13 and Travis Aubin added 10.

Picayune’s girls fell 51-35, despite 12 points from Monique Brown and eight from Ebony Jones.

Picayune travels to Bay High on Thursday for a pair of games.