Picayune’s Maroon Tide basketball team took on the D’Iberville Warriors Tuesday evening and lost 58-37.

Picayune, like other teams across the nation, is currently having to navigate the challenges of playing during a pandemic. Head Coach Eric Vianney said his players have to prepare even harder for games knowing there are no excuses as other teams go through the same difficulties.

“Everybody is doing with same thing, but we were not ready for that game. When you play anybody, the person that works hard, wants it more and makes plays is going to get it,” Vianney said.

The Maroon Tide has had early season struggles with turnovers.

Vianney said he and his staff preach the importance of taking care of the ball, but the team’s up and down play leads to unnecessary mistakes.

“That’s going to start in practice. We have to take care of the ball and we have to be strong with the ball. Our guys, we drill that every day in practice, but sometimes we don’t focus. Sometimes our focus is not there,” Vianney said.

Picayune’s next match up will be Dec. 8 against Archbishop Hannan at home.

The extended period of time between the two games will give Vianney and his players plenty of time to fix some of the problems they’ve been having on the court.

“We need to be consistent and be working hard. Our execution needs to be better. Ball pressure, taking charges, rebounding, great communication, helping the helper, guys flying around playing hard, we need to improve all of that,” Vianney said.