THE PERTH Wildcats suffered their heaviest defeat of the season on Sunday, going down by 32 points to the league leading Illawarra Hawks. 

Perth entered as winners of four of its last five games but was well and truly dominated by the home side who move to 11-5 for the season and sit comfortably top of the table with three games in hand over the second place Melbourne United.

The Hawks, with 16 matches completed, have played the equal lowest number of games in NBL25, meaning they are fresh going into a compressed stretch in the latter half of the season, whereas the Wildcats have played the equal most, with 19 and are now three games into an eight-game road stand. 

Perth matched the Hawks through the opening 9 minutes, before the hosts ended the first term on a 10-2 run in the final 1:24. They never surrendered the lead from there, outscoring the visitors in every quarter. The Wildcats were held to just 15 third quarter points, and the massive defeat puts them equal in the loss column with the SEM Phoenix and the Adelaide 36ers.

Coming into the contest, the question was always going to be asked of Perth’s defence, which was missing Kristian Doolittle and Tai Webster, and as it turned out the Wildcats were simply no match for the illustrious offensive weapons that Illawarra boasts.

Trey Kell III continued a superb run of form with an NBL career-high 31 points to go with five assists, five rebounds and four hits from three-point range, while Sam Froling and Tyler Harvey combined to add another 33 points. Hyunjung Lee and Darius Days were prolific off the bench, and William Hickey posted a balanced line of nine points, four rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

The home side shot 38 per cent from beyond the arc, and 78 per cent from the free throw line. They forced 17 turnovers from the Wildcats while committing just nine themselves. The rebounding battle was won by the Hawks as well, 43-31. To cap off their dominance, they blocked seven shots to Perth’s one. 

Bryce Cotton looked set to be in for another record-breaking performance at quarter time, as he scored 13 points in the opening period. The MVP frontrunner had averaged 48 points over his last four games coming into this one, and he was finding no trouble scoring the ball again. However, thanks to some gritty defence from former teammate Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Cotton was unable to trouble the scorers again from that point on. 

Keanu Pinder came off the bench once again and contributed 16 points, while no other Wildcat scored more than Cotton’s 13. Next star Izan Almansa was again solid in his efforts as a starter with eight points and three rebounds. David Okwera earned another start in lieu of Doolittle, while his injury replacement player Todd Withers went scoreless in his 23 minutes.

Through a tough away stretch for Perth, head coach John Rillie doused the scorching critics, stating that this game was ‘a blip’, and that it was a good reminder that you can never get to far ahead of yourself in this league. 

Illawarra now face the Sydney Kings in a Christmas Day clash as part of the NBL’s Wednesday double-header, while Perth will attempt to bounce back as they head to Adelaide to do battle with the 36ers in Round 14.