Portland-based Brock Carter played 15 minutes in the Seahawks’ grand final series game one rout of Casey Cavaliers on Sunday – the second-most of his debut season. The 200-centimetre Carter said he needed to stand up in Curtis Ryan’s absence.

Ryan returned to America for school after the the Seahawks’ preliminary final win a fortnight ago.

“With Curtis away, me, Ollie (Bidmade) and James (Mitchell) have had to step up and help the older blokes,” Carter said.

Carter, 17, has notched 15 matches in his first Big V season and is eager to play again in 2017.

He juggles Seahawks’ commitments with domestic games in Portland and will line-up for his home team, the Coasters, at Country Basketball League level over summer. Warrnambool hosts Casey in game two on Saturday night.