THEY had been regarded as the best backcourt duo in the competition, but despite the plaudits Tyler Harvey and Trey Kell III received, it was William Hickey that made it a party, as the Illawarra Hawks saluted against Melbourne United in game five of the NBL Grand Final series.

Despite being dealt blow after blow late in the year, including losing Sam Froling early in game four to an Achilles injury and only regaining Kell III for the decisive match after nervously getting through game four down in Victoria, Illawarra emerged as NBL champions for just the second time in its history, and first in 24 years.

The Hawks last won way back in 2001 when they defeated the now defunct Townsville Crocodiles. Though that year the Hawks won a best-of-three series up in Far North Queensland, in 2025, Illawarra was able to enjoy the trophy in front of home fans at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

Kell III might not have been 100 per cent to play, though he looked that and more, piling on a whopping 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, only marginally falling short of a triple-double. Incredibly, he was not the only one as Hickey (21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists) also stuffed the statsheet, leaving Harvey as the most modest of the trio, but still managing 16 points and seven assists on the day.

The only difference between the sides was in an entertaining second term where the Hawks poured on 34 points to 24, with that 10-point differential ending up the margin at the final buzzer. All the other three terms were even with 26, 22 and 32 scored in the first, third and fourth quarters respectively.

The closest Melbourne got after half-time was six points with 50 seconds remaining in the third. Though as quickly as United had chipped into the deficit, Kell III nailed two jump shots and restored the double-digit lead by the last change.

Each time the visitors posed a question, it was answered comprehensively, and usually with some extra emphasis. Much like Froling the game before, it was United’s unfortunate luck to lose a big man, with centre Marcus Lee hurting his shoulder at a crucial point during the third term. While his direct replacement Robert Loe did finish with 14 points and four rebounds, it impacted United’s defence.

Instead it was the likes of the returning Shea Ili who suffered concussion symptoms following game three and finished with an impressive 20 points, as well as six assists and four steals without a turnover. Veteran shooter Chris Goulding managed a team-high 21 points, though was not as deadly from long-range (3/12).

Others who put pressure on the scoreboard included Jack White (17 points, seven rebounds) and Ian Clark (15 points, four rebounds and two assists), though ultimately despite the high-scoring tempo, United could note get back into the game in the second half.

The victory meant Illawarra successfully saw out the NBL Grand Final series after finishing on top of the ladder from the regular season, and despite going down 1-2 after three games with several key injuries, dug deep to win game four, and then celebrate at home for game five.