Riley Nicolson shines as Seahawks fall to Portland Coasters

Nicolson drained 21 points in the Warrnambool Seahawks' ugly 27-point loss to Portland Coasters on Saturday night, delighting first-year coach Mitchell.

The Seahawks netted 54 points to Portland's 81 - a result Mitchell labelled "a wake up call". But Mitchell was full of praise for 17-year-old's role in the humbling defeat.

"He's a fantastic young kid who hasn't been in the Seahawks' program," he said.

"He was outstanding to be able to do that on a tough night for us. It was one of those nights where nothing went right for us.

"His attitude was great as well. He's speaking about his performance post-game, saying 'I could do this better, I could do that better'."

Experienced guard Josh Dean was also reliable, slotting 14 points in his first outing as captain.

Elsewhere, Warrnambool Mermaids fell just six points short of Mount Gambier Lakers across the border.

Leah Barlett (20 points), Juina Lual (13) and Renee Tuck (11) were top scorers in the defeat.

Terang also misfired in its double-header, losing to Colac and Portland.

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