Trying to teach a young team how to play consistent basketball is like trying to unearth a diamond — you have to dig through a lot of grime to find something beautiful.

Steve Jacobson is in the middle of that process with the Peninsula Seahawks, and his girls are starting to show signs of understanding the coach’s complex system. They hope to pick up a win in Class 3A South Puget Sound League play.

Like most South Sound teams, the Seahawks (3-11 overall, 0-4 league) had their schedule interrupted by last week’s snowy weather. They rescheduled a road contest against the Lakes Lancers for Monday night, and they will host the Decatur Gators at 7 p.m. Saturday.In between those games, they’ll also travel to second-place Enumclaw and host league-leading Auburn Mountainview as the second half of SPSL play gets underway.

As Jacobson winds down his first season as the team’s coach, he’s preaching consistency at both ends of the floor. When the Seahawks have done that, they’ve found success: They played Auburn Mountainview nearly even over the final three quarters and scored the first eight points in a 54-40 loss to Bonney Lake.

“Once we learn to be consistent, we could win a few of our remaining games,” Jacobson said.

Peninsula has improved in three areas since the start of the season — patience against the press, pinning defenders to generate post-up chances, and creating turnovers.

“We have had to use (full-court pressure) more in league play, and we have had some pretty good results,” Jacobson said. “We try to mix (defenses) up so that the opponent never gets too comfortable.”

A few players have shown notable improvements in the past two months, Jacobson said, including senior post Chandler Mason and senior point guard Sarah Tysdal. They’re providing supplemental threats to leading scorer Leigh Iosia and leading rebounder Tyler Stolz.

“Chandler has really provided us with a solid low-post presence,” Jacobson said. “She does an excellent job of learning the post moves and attempting them in games.

“Sarah has improved in a couple ways,” he added. “She has done a much better job of taking care of the ball, and she has increased her leadership role within the team as well.”

Boback thinks playoffs are reachable for Gig Harbor

Despite an underwhelming start that has them sitting in sixth place in the eight-team Class 4A Narrows League, coach Bob Boback thinks the Gig Harbor Tides still have a reasonable chance to move into the top four and reach the West Central District tournament.

In their last outing, the Tides (5-8, 2-5) rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to earn a 56-54 road victory over the Stadium Tigers. The win kept Gig Harbor a game back of Mount Tahoma and Olympia for the final playoff berth.

Senior guard Leah Davis had a game-high 26 points against Stadium, and she hit two free throws with 6.4 seconds left before the Tigers missed two game-tying attempts at the other end.

The foul shots were particularly clutch, Boback said, because Davis was only 5-for-15 from the line to that point.

“Leah just kind of took over in the last three minutes and kind of willed the victory,” Boback said. “She kind of put her stamp on this team, and the rest of the girls are starting to see how hard she plays.

“It was a tough game — Stadium’s gotten better, and, basically, this was a real gut-check. We had a lot of opportunities in this game to fold.”

Two players are out of the Tides’ lineup indefinitely after they sustained concussions. Noelle Oppenhuizen was lost against Yelm in the first game of the season, and Emery Wallerich hasn’t practiced since a Jan. 6 loss to Olympia.

Their absences have opened the door for other players to prove themselves, Boback said, and he expects the team to play better as the second half of the league schedule begins Wednesday at Shelton.

“The second time around is always fun to see what happens,” he said. “You see how tough your team is and what kind of adjustments we make. The fear factor is kind of gone the second time around. They get rid of some of the insecurities.”