Basketball On The Internet.

CAIRNS' Admiral Schofield last night reduced himself to a petty officer with his unwarranted post-game antics after Perth sank his team by 32 points, claiming all seven Ignite Cup points in a third embarrassing 30-plus defeat for the Taipans who are missing more than Jack McVeigh and Sam Waardenburg.

They're missing method and heart, jacking up 33 3-pointers, many of them ill-conceived, rushed or just unnecessary when only 10 found their mark, Kyrin Galloway (2-of-3) and Kody Stattmann (2-of-4) the only men in orange being both reasonably accurate and judicious.

The powerfully-built Schofield was a woeful 2-of-9 from long range and his muscle could have been put to much better use with some inside-the-keyway hustle instead of a fruitless bombardment from distance followed by post-game shenanigans.

Instead of shaking hands with Jo Lual-Acuil (24 points at 63 per cent) in the customary sideline shuffle, Schofield chose instead to get in the face of Wildcats forward Lat Mayen.

(Un)pleasantries were exchanged, Lual-Acuil joining the fray to assist his teammate and the Taipans' unable seaman reacting by becoming exceedingly heated.

Seriously, if Schofield showed half the same intensity during the game as he showed while players and coaches sought to avert the rising tensions, perhaps he could have helped stymy another home humiliation.

It was a classic case of "that escalated quickly", Schofield behaving as if he was anxious to get physical after avoiding much of that during the loss.

Lual-Acuil and Kristian Doolittle started strongly for Perth and Elijah Pepper was at his best, his 18 points at 70 per cent including 3-of-4 triples. He also dished four assists.

John Rillie chose to finally read the tea leaves and start Jaron Rillie instead of the wayward Dontae Russo-Nance, who also benefited by coming off the bench and making a much better contribution.

Cairns guard Reyne Smith (13 points at 56 per cent, 5 assists) tied the game early at 7-7 before Rillie, Doolittle, David Okwera and Lual-Acuil conspired in a 10-0 run for a 17-7 buffer from which the Taipans were never able to fully recover.

Round 6

Perth Wildcats 110 (Lual-Acuil 24, Pepper, Doolittle 18, Rillie, Henshall 10; Doolittle 8 rebs; Russo-Nance, Doolittle 4 assts) d Cairns Taipans 78 (Schofield 16, Smith 13, Stattman, Andrews, Adnam 10; Galloway 8 rebs; Smith 5 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 3,317 Q-Q: 30-22, 30-20, 28-20, 22-16. Ignite Cup Pts: Perth 7, Cairns 0