Wildcats salute in high-scoring thriller

Ben Henshall and Dylan Windler combined for 10 three-pointers and the Perth Wildcats continued to find ways to win without Bryce Cotton knocking off the NBL-leading Illawarra Hawks 113-105.

The Wildcats were without the four-time MVP last Friday night along with point guard Tai Webster in a gritty win also at RAC Arena against the Sydney Kings.

They backed it up seven days later with the eight-point win against the Hawks albeit doing it in a vastly contrasting way.

It was all about the effort areas on a poor shooting night last Friday, but this time the Wildcats were incredible shooting the ball especially early going 9/12 from deep in the first quarter.

They finished the game going 17/31 from long-range with Henshall making 5/8 for 26 points and six assists while import forward Windler made 5/7 for 17 points and five rebounds.

On the back of that hot shooting, the Wildcats piled on 39 points in the first quarter but the Hawks did well to stick with them with 31 points of their own.

The 'Cats still went into half-time leading 62-53 but the Hawks were shooting 55 per cent to stay in touch and built some momentum midway through the fourth to get back within three.

However, Perth responded with the next nine points to open up a 12-point and go on to win by eight to improve to a 4-4 record.

The Wildcats shot 54 per cent as a team with Tai Webster returning with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Elijah Pepper contributed 13 points, five boards and four assists, Keanu Pinder 13 points and six rebounds, and Kristian Doolittle 13 points and seven assists.

Wildcats coach John Rillie couldn’t be happier with what his team has delivered the past seven days.

"For us to come out and start the game the way we did was very good," he said.

"Then as the game flowed on, we got good contributions from different guys at the right moments when we needed them.

"You can see from last week to this week guys are enjoying playing, it just took us a minute to figure some things out and we're starting to see the rewards of persevering."

The loss sees the Hawks, who were missing star point guard Trey Kell III, concede top spot to Melbourne United with a 6-3 record with Davo Hickey producing a career-best 20 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Tyler Harvey added 25 points and two assists, Lachlan Olbrich 14 points and four rebounds, and Sam Froling 11 points, four boards and two steals.

After an eventful week, Hawks coach Justin Tatum was short on words afterwards.

"Perth played well, we didn’t play well and that was it, that's how I saw it," he said.

"Perth shot the ball well and we didn’t play well. (I wanted) my team to come out with a little bit more energy and assert themselves early, that's probably about it."

The three-point party in the first quarter for the Wildcats started courtesy of Keanu Pinder, Dylan Windler and Kristian Doolittle as they opened up a 15-7 lead.

Ben Henshall then knocked down his first of the night just over four minutes into the game and the Wildcats just couldn’t miss.

Henshall added another as did Windler before the returning Tai Webster came on to make two of his own and suddenly the Wildcats had 39 points on the board on 9/12 three-point shooting.

The Hawks had gone 3/4 themselves and did well to stay in touch with 31 of their own points before the scoring dried up considerably for both teams to start the second frame.

Harvey was keeping the Hawks in touch with 15 points for the half but Henshall knocked down another two three balls and had 21 points in the half to keep the 'Cats on top with the 62-53 lead by the main break.

Hickey scored six quick points early in the third quarter and already recorded his career-high in that period, but the Wildcats continued to hold sway even with consecutive Hawks three balls from Wani Swaka Lo Buluk.

Henshall knocked down his fifth three of the night on the three quarter-time buzzer to keep Perth six points on top but the Hawks weren’t going anywhere and it was just a three-point ball game with five minutes on the clock.

The 'Cats responded, though, with the next eight points and ultimately an offensive rebound from Todd Withers (eight points, three rebounds, two steals) and put back sealed the win for the home team.

The Wildcats will back up against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Melbourne on Sunday while the Hawks don't play until facing the 36ers in Adelaide in nine days' time.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

PERTH WILDCATS 113 (Henshall 26, Windler 17, Webster 15)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 105 (Harvey 25, Hickey 20, Olbrich 14)

BOX SCORE