The Hawks will have to lift the crown the hard way following a 12-point loss to Perth Wildcats in game one of the grand final series on Sunday night.

Kay finished with nine points, two rebounds and one assist during 24 minutes of game time in Illawarra’s 89-77 defeat at Perth Arena.

A disappointed Hawks coach Rob Beveridge did not pull any punches when it came to assessing his side’s performance.

“We were soft,” Beveridge said.

“We gave up 17 offensive rebounds. You simply cannot beat most teams, let alone the Wildcats, if you’re going to give up 17 offensive rebounds.

“As far as I’m concerned as a coach, in a Grand Final series, that’s unacceptable.”

Illawarra will get the chance to bounce back in the best-of-five series at home on Wednesday night and as well as lifting when it comes to the boards, need to find a way of stopping star Wildcats guard Casey Prather.

Prather (22 points) and fellow American Bryce Cotton (18 points) both played crucial roles as did big-man Matt Knight, who dominated inside to finish with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Illawarra travelled across the Nullarbor undermanned with import Marvelle Harris flying home to the United States to visit his sick father.

Despite the American’s absence, it was the Hawks who had the better of the early stages, taking a 26-21 lead at quarter-time.

A driving lay-up from Mitch Norton extended the advantage to eight points early in the second before Prather and Cotton combined for a 10-0 run to wrestle back the lead for the hosts.

When Knight bullied his way inside and made one off the glass, scores were level at 42-42 at the main break.

The titanic struggle to gain ascendancy continued in the third quarter as both sides attempted to build a buffer.

Eventually it was the Wildcats who clawed their way to a seven point advantage on the back of a pair of free throws from Jesse Wagstaff.

An early three and reverse lay-up from Cody Ellis set up what looked to be a tense finale as the Hawks closed the lead to two points.

However, Perth showed poise under pressure to keep Illawarra at arms length.

Ellis had a season-high 12 points for the Hawks.