Illawarra's Justinian Jessup defends Perth's Luke Travers on Monday night. Photo: Hawks Media

LIGHTNING, as it turns out, doesn't strike twice.

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Illawarra's season is over after another epic second-half fightback fell short against Perth on Monday, the Wildcats halting the Hawks fairytale finals run with a 79-71 win at RAC Arena.

The defending champs did enough, but coach Trevor Gleeson may have felt an uncomfortable sense of deja vu early in the final term. The Hawks looked to be on the end of a good old-fashioned Perth ambush, with Todd Blanchfield putting on a first-half shooting clinic with 21 points in what was almost a carbon-copy of game one of the series at the same venue.

It saw the Cats lead by 14 at the main break, only for the Hawks to open the third term with a 12-0 run and bring the margin back to one early in the fourth as they eyed another unlikely comeback win. They once again trailed by double digits in the fourth, with Mitch Norton seemingly burying them three times down the stretch only to see his former club get back within two scores on all three occasions.

Like game one, it was an offensive board that proved the major play, this time from Cats young-gun Luke Travers who put back a wayward shot from Wagstaff and went coast-to-coast to bury the game-winner with 43 seconds left.

Ultimately, it was a pair of former Hawks who did the damage, Blanchfield finishing with 24 points, while Norton was monstrous down the stretch despite only proving his fitness an hour before tip-off. He had eight of his 15 points in a commanding display down the stretch in what was the telling hand in the game.

The Hawks certainly don't leave in disgrace, having looked dead and buried on multiple occasions only to force the clash into the dying moments. Sam Froling led the Hawks with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks but it was an across-the-board effort that got the visitors back into the game, with all players taking the floor getting on the sheet.

Justinian Jessup finished with just eight points but had five of them in the clutch as his side looked to steal the game, while Tyler Harvey dealt with foul trouble after picking up his fourth personal in the first half, finishing with 10 points.

Justin Simon fell just short of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds while Dan Grida made the most of a surprising start with nine points and several hustle plays.

They left themselves too much to do but Goorjian found it difficult to find fault with his side's effort across the three-game series, a stage on which few tipped the rebuilt franchise to feature.

"I'm really proud of the team," Goorjian said.

"We're not at the point yet where we execute real great in the half-court and that's what it came down to at the end of the game, they're better at that aspect of the game.

"Sometimes you can have that covered and have a group that quits with what went on in that first half. This group isn't real polished yet and it's got a long way to go as far as structure, but all year, and tonight, they have a crack.

"[We said] don't worry about the score, don't look at the scoreboard, everything you've got tonight, all the effort, all the hustle and I thought we did that. I kept saying 'the clock's our friend' and at the end, if we're in it, we've really got a chance.

"At the end, Justin puts that lay-up in and we [were] two down with a minute to go, right where we wanted to be. It was just a little bit too big of a hole."

Goorjian pulled a line-up surprise, putting faith in Grida to start the game having seen just three minutes of action in the previous two encounters. It saw skipper AJ Ogilvy, who dramatically fouled out early in game two, shifted to the bench.

Froling's aggressive mindset was on show early, grabbing two from the line and put-back that gave the Hawks an early 9-4 cushion with Jessup's first three.

Blanchfield had five from the line and a baseline triple out of Gleeson's first timeout on a 10-0 run for a five-point lead. The hosts made the running for the remainder of the term, Steindl and Kevin White dropping threes on a 19-6 run to close the term with an eight-point cushion.

The Hawks went back to back from deep through Harvey and Tim Coenraad, making it a two-point game and forcing Gleeson into a timeout having not dropped a bucket through three minutes of the term. The Cats answered 4-0 with Goorjian halting things.

There was no putting the clamp on Blanchfield who had two triples, while Clint Steindl also chimed in from deep as the lead ballooned to 13 before Isaac White hit back with a much-needed long bomb of his own.

Blanchfield also drew two fouls on Harvey who ultimately forced the Hawks star to sit with his fourth with 30 seconds left in the half that saw the visitors trailing by 14.

It was quickly cut back to eight as the Hawks grabbed the opening six points of the third, a furious Gleeson calling a quick timeout to dent the swing.

Grida buried a three out of the resumption to get it back to five and it was a two-point game in the blink of an eye when Froling slammed one home over Mooney and buried the and-one on a 12-0 run.

Jesse Wagstaff stemmed the flow from the line before Blanchfield grabbed another triple and prompted Goorjian to call time with the margin back at seven.

Mooney notched his 26^th double-double to keep the Cats in front, but the visitors closed the show 6-2 to draw within four at the final break on the back of a 19-9 quarter.

Harvey drained just his second three of the game to get within one to start the fourth but the hosts responded through Wagstaff, who had four on 7-0 run to re-take an eight-point buffer.

It went out to 10 on what looked like a dagger three from Norton, only for a quick four from Froling and hustle play from Jessup allowing Simon to get back within six with three and a half minutes left.

Jessup had a three and a couple more from the line to again drag the Hawks back but it was Travers who landed the final blow in what was another finals epic.