Hawks go down swinging in semi-final loss to Wildcats - bow out of NBL21

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 71 - Perth Wildcats 79

The Story

After a season like no other, the curtain has finally drawn on the Illawarra Hawks NBL21 campaign following the side's 79-71 loss to the Perth Wildcats in Game Three of the side's semi-final series in Perth.

The Hawks walked into RAC Arena with history both for and against them. In 24 of the last 25 playoff series played in the NBL, the team that won Game One has gone on to win the series. But offsetting that was the fact the Hawks have won only two of their last 36 clashes in the West.

Illawarra got off to a perfect start in front of a pumped up Red Army of nearly 9000 people, with 'Next Star' Justinian Jessup aggressive early on as he looked to spark the visitors.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aggressive Jessup early...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/FxnfVrODir">pic.twitter.com/FxnfVrODir</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball - x (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1404405556907954185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks opening surge was quickly put to bed by the Wildcats though, with the home side waking from their early slumber to put the clamps on the Illawarra offence and take a 23-15 lead into the first break.

In the second term, young buck Sam Froling and veteran Tim Coenraad combined for this sweet play to bridge the gap to three.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The young buck <a href="https://twitter.com/samfroling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samfroling_</a> and the old vet <a href="https://twitter.com/coenraad22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coenraad22</a> going off!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALLINIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALLINIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/pI8JMtCvcF">pic.twitter.com/pI8JMtCvcF</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball - x (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1404411263791235078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

But it was a familiar face that ripped the Hawks heart out again, with Todd Blanchfield knocking down 11 points for the quarter as the former Illawarra man tortured the hoop from all parts of the court.

Hawks star guard Tyler Harvey also picked up his fourth foul in the dying stages of the opening half as the Wildcats took control to lead 46-32 at the oranges.

As has been the case all season with the Hawks though, they were never going to lie down.

Dan Grida provided some theatrics with this circus shot from beneath the hoop, with the young West Aussie's bucket forming part of a 14-0 run from Illawarra that got them within two at one stage late in the term.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Circus in town <a href="https://twitter.com/DGrida?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DGrida</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALLINIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALLINIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/Rq8EgLfQI9">pic.twitter.com/Rq8EgLfQI9</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball - x (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1404419271426404352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks holding Perth to nine points for the quarter and bridging the gap to 55-51 with one to play.

Harvey opened the fourth with a bang, knocking down his second triple of the game as both sides jostled for an advantage down the stretch.

The Wildcats seemingly pulling away before Jessup threw himself at this loose ball, setting up Justin Simon for an easy layup and suddenly, the Hawks were back within six late with a little over three to play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JJ with the hustle play ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALLINIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALLINIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/5FBtNiToKc">pic.twitter.com/5FBtNiToKc</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball - x (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1404430117036724230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks pulling within four with a little over a minute to play on the back of another Jessup bomb, before a Luke Travers rebound and fast break dunk put the result beyond the doubt.

The Hawks brave on the road, but ultimately beaten by a team that just knows how to win big games. The final score 79-71 to Perth.

The Stats

The Wildcats were the better time on the stat sheet in nearly every category tonight in a sign they probably deserved to take Game Three.

They shot the ball better than the Hawks (40 -39% from the field, 33 - 29% from deep and 86 - 72% from the charity stripe).

Perth won the battle of the boards (41 - 34) despite a huge effort from the Hawks to keep the likes of Mooney and Travers away from the glass, although both sides had 30 points in the paint.

The Hawks are usually streets ahead of their opponents in defensive stats but tonight both side's had eight steals, with the Hawks peeling off seven blocks to just two for the home side.

The Hawks second unit won the battle of the reserves, dropping in 21 points to the Wildcats' 17 with Naar (6), White (5) and Deng (5) all chipping in.

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The Fallout

"Really proud of the team honestly. We're not at the point yet where we execute stuff real great in the half court and that's what it came down to at the end of the game. They're better than we are in that aspect of the game but sometimes you can have that covered and have a group that quits with what went on in the first half and this group isn't real polished yet and has got a long way to go as far as structure but man all year and tonight they have a crack," Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said.

"We missed chip shots, we turned the ball over a little bit too much, we made some mistakes but man we had a go. And then for me personally, I heard a lot about what's gone on here being in China over the last 12 years, what's gone on with the Red Army, Perth, the dominance...it has gone to another level. and tonight on the Perth side of it, it was electric. It was a wonderful environment to play in with a really live crowd, that's why we're involved in this. It was a tremendous environment, and then full congratulations to a first class team that squeezes everything out of what they've got," Goorjian said.

"We got the community behind the team. We did what we promised. We were gonna start a culture this year and build something that the community could be proud of and I don't think we've let ourselves down at all. I though what was on display tonight from our side, I'm proud of...Sam Froling's young. [Dan] Grida's young, Emmett Naar, that group of guys, they're young guys. We've let some of that group go, we had great leadership from the man next to me all year, our imports were class guys that played together and we've set a structure in place to take a step next year like this," Goorjian said.

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"I'm incredibly proud of this young group. As Goorj said we haven't been together a long time. A few of us have been together, what three years is the longest, so yeah to come that close, to be in Perth, I've been in games here when we've been down 12 and end up 50. To have no give up, full heart, battle it out, try and comeback and almost steal the game is incredible. Love all the guys in our team, we just battled our hearts out, all year we were up against it with the Covid stuff and the NBL hub and having to leave Wollongong and we did our best, but unfortunately Perth were just too good tonight ," Hawks captain AJ Ogilvy said.

"He [Sam Froling] was a little bit injured last year, probably didn't get the run that he probably should have, just with the way things worked out but this year he's been incredible. For me it's an easy decision, he's the most improved player in our league. He's gonna have a massive future and I think you're still only seeing glimpses of what he can do too. When he gets in his head that he wants to dominate he's going to be a very, very tough person to stop and he's gonna be around for a long time," Ogilvy said.

"It's been great [playing under Goorjian]. Growing up obviously I spent a lot of my time watching Goorj's teams play in the NBL and live...he's got the reputation of being a fantastic coach and he has that for a reason. The way he was able to rally our team together just to get us to battle every single night was just incredible. I've learnt so much from him and am truly honoured to be a part of this team," Ogilvy said.

The Road Ahead

That's it for the Illawarra Hawks in season 2021 folks! The Perth Wildcats advance to the NBL Grand Final where they will meet the winner of tonight's deciding game between Melbourne United and the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Stay tuned to our channels this week as we celebrate our season and announce some very worthy award winners on Wednesday night at the club's official end of season dinner.