Hawks defy history for dramatic win in Perth

You could have been excused for assuming an Illawarra Hawks semi-final win at RAC Arena was led by Tyler Harvey, but it was Justin Simon and Justinian Jessup delivering the killer blows to the Perth Wildcats in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Despite trailing most of the night in Game 1 of the semi-final series at RAC Arena and with a horror record as a club out west, the Hawks put all that behind them and also had to do it with Tyler Harvey having an off night going 4/21 from the field and 2/12 from deep.

They still pulled together and gained some fourth quarter momentum with a monster slam from Sam Froling in the face of Jesse Wagstaff.

Then the last three minutes and it was all Illawarra. Justinian Jessup had his own tough night up until then when he hit two huge three-pointers and three free-throws, but this would be Justin Simon's night.

He had been huge all night long but his putback slam on an offensive board with 15 seconds to go proved the match-winning play. Former Hawk Todd Blanchfield threw up a prayer on the buzzer but it wasn’t to be and the Hawks won 74-72 to claim Game 1.

It's a win that goes against history for Illawarra. It's just their second ever win in 24 attempts at RAC Arena and their second win in the last 36 visits overall out west against the team that has beaten them in the last five playoff series' they've matched up in over the past 11 years. 

Offensive rebounding has been a staple of Perth's success but it was Illawarra pulling in 14 of them to six while also forcing the Wildcats into 12 turnovers.

Justinan Jessup ended the night with 17 points but it was Justin Simon's night with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Tyler Harvey had just 10 points while Sam Froling added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Tim Coenraad 10 points on three huge three-point baskets.

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian was proud as punch afterwards with the way his team ignored history to deliver the late flurry to take Game 1.

"I'm so excited about what's ahead and I was so excited coming in here. I know the history but this is a whole different franchise, a whole different organisation and we felt good about ourselves coming in about how we could play with these guys," Goorjian said. 

"They are a good basketball team, they're well coached and well drilled, and they are the Perth Wildcats. But with the history of it, it wasn’t in my mind and it certainly wasn’t in my team's mind. 

"We came into this game thinking we had a chance and as the game went on, I just kept looking at the score clock and saying if we can just not let it go and stay in it, we've got Justinian and Tyler that are dangerous late in the game from three. 

"A lot of times it's Tyler, but tonight it was Justinian and again it's a series and it is young and exciting, but it means nothing unless we get the next one. We're all about trying to win this series."

Todd Blanchfield did all he could for the Bryce Cotton-less Wildcats with 24 points on 6/12 shooting from downtown while John Mooney had another double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Emerging development player Luke Travers stood up for 12 points and six rebounds too but the Wildcats needed more from others.

Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson lamented his team's inability to take care of the basketball more than anything.

"It's pretty tough when you are up for 36 minutes and are in front but can't put the game away. You look at the stats and we had nine turnovers in the second half so if you turn the ball over it kills you," Gleeson said.

"That's the second time now against the Hawks that we are just loose with the ball, we're not strong with the ball and our passing is not up to scratch. You have to secure the ball when you are going for a drive, we are getting it stripped from us or it's hitting our leg and going out. We are making basic errors of ball safety and it's killing us."

The Wildcats started impressively with John Mooney establishing himself inside and Luke Travers aggressive as the home team went up 10-4, and then 15-6 with a Todd Blanchfield three ball.

Illawarra appeared to steady starting with a three from Isaac White, but another Blanchfield triple helped Perth lead 22-16 after one with Tyler Harvey held to three points on 1/7.

The Wildcats again started the second quarter strongly with eight quick Blanchfield points including another pair of three balls to help his new team to a 35-23 against his former club.

The game threatened to get away from Illawarra but it was Justin Simon who sparked their 10-4 streak to close the half to trail by just the six points on the back of eight offensive boards to one in the opening half against the Wildcats.

The Hawks quickly closed the gap to start the second half with Simon producing a three-point play and Justinian Jessup hitting a triple but Blanchfield kept on hitting from deep for Perth to maintain the narrow lead for the home side.

Tim Coenraad sparked a 6-0 Illawarra run but Perth still led 56-52 by three quarter-time before Coenraad hit from deep again to start the fourth and it was a one-point ball game.

Sam Froling then threw home dunk on Jesse Wagstaff, but still with four minutes to go, the Wildcats led by six still appeared in control enough.

Harvey and Jessup couldn’t buy a three-point shot all game, but Jessup then knocked one down and then hit two free-throws to make it a one-point game with two minutes on clock.

Jessup again connected from deep to give Illawarra the lead and then the play of the night came from Simon with his putback dunk with 15 seconds left to give the Hawks the ever so rare road win in Perth.

Game 2 is now Saturday at the WIN Entertainment Centre with the Hawks a chance to advance to the Grand Final and the Wildcats needing to win to force Game 3 back in Perth on Monday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS 2021
SEMI FINALS GAME 1

PERTH WILDCATS 72 (Blanchfield 24, Mooney 13, Travers 12)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 74 (Jessup 17, Simon 16, Harvey 10, Froling 10, Coenraad 10) 

BOX SCORE