The Maroon Tide’s Stephane Ayangma muscled 32 points and 16 rebounds to push Picayune (11-4) past the D’Iberville Warriors 58-45.

Picayune’s last loss this season occurred after a D’Iberville shot at the buzzer during the teams’ match up on Dec. 2, ending 51-50. This time around, however, was different.

The Warriors defense got in a deep hole in the beginning of the game, allowing Ayangma to score 15 points and nab seven rebounds in the first quarter, which gave Picayune an early 21-8 lead.

“[Ayangma] is crazy on the boards. He is a lot to contain,” Warriors Head Basketball Coach Chris Odom said.

However, in the second quarter, D’Iberville limited Ayangma to only two points and the rest of the Tide to three, ending the half 26-15.

“For the past couple of months, Steph has came out ready to play, and it shows in how active he has been,” Picayune Head Basketball Coach Kelton Thompson said.

In the second half, the Tide got another early start, but this time with a pair of 3-pointers from Marvun Arnold and Ahmad Lathan, but a slump in defense led to D’Iberville scoring nine points in the first four minutes of the second half.

Then, after two trips to the free throw line, Warriors Dillyn Neely hit a long 3-pointer, which narrowed the gap to 34-30 with 2:57 to go in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they were not able to get that close to tying it up for the rest of the game after Picayune went on a 10-2 run throughout the rest of the quarter.

After a quick dish to Ayangma from Lathan for an easy layup in the fourth quarter, D’Iberville’s Clink Hawkins hit a 3-pointer to cut Picayune’s lead to single digits, 50-41, with 4:05 to go in the game.

But, after flustering Picayune with a full-court press for the final half of the fourth quarter, Lathan put the game away on the free throw line, 58-45. He ended the game with seven points. Tide’s Arnold scored nine points and had two rebounds.

“Picayune could be a great team toward the end of the season,” Odom said. “Kelton is a great coach and I know he is going to turn this program around. They will be exciting to watch in district play.”

Picayune will play Lafayette in the second round of the Picayune Christmas Tournament Friday night. See Tuesday’s edition of the Item for full coverage.