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AFTER an embarrassing Game 2 in which he described his own performance as "trash," Trey Kell last night led a fierce, focused and unforgiving regular season champion Illawarra into the NBL Championship Series with a go-to-whoa erasure of an unsuspecting South East Melbourne to emphatically clinch their semi final 2-1.

In what was as decisive and as vehement a domination by any team over another this season, the Hawks led by as many as 43 points before settling for a bench-clearing 126-96 rout.

It was as stark a contrast to the rival Melbourne-Perth semi final series as you could imagine, that one going down to an epic 113-112 Game 3 United win, this one promising just as much after a two game split with identical 101-94 scorelines.

Forget a third revisit of that though, Illawarra leading this one 101-64 during the third quarter. Slight difference.

As thrilling and spectacular as it was to watch the Hawks in full flight - epecially after their Game 2 hiccup - there was no doubt the Phoenix were ill-prepared for what was to come.

And that is no criticism of South East Melbourne.

As great a job as Josh King did this season in restoring a 0-5 club faltering at 2-6 when he answered South East's SOS, he made one error of judgment last night.

Like his players and staff, he believed the Phoenix were playing a semi final road decider for a shot at the championship series, and prepared accordingly.

The problem for South East, and it was evident from the moment Kell opened the scoring with a statement driving hoop, was that Illawarra wasn't playing for a shot at Melbourne.

It was playing for redemption, and not just for Game 2 but for a Game 3 semi final it lost last year to Melbourne. It was playing for a chance to bring ultimate joy to Wollongong and the Illawarra region in the same way 12 months ago the JackJumpers brought bliss to the island of Tasmania.

It was playing for a shot at creating more history, having ticked that first box with this last surviving 1979 NBL foundation club claiming its first ever regular season championship.

It was playing for a myriad of reasons, big and small - such as maybe sending warrior Todd Blanchfield off with a championship after 16 seasons without one.

A decade ago, Blanchfield was winning the league's Most Improved Player award and at Melbourne too, the very club which denied him a championship in 2021 when he was in Perth's red.

South East simply had a gameplan to unpack. In contrast, Illawarra had a treasure trove of memories, stories and disappointments to erase. One club was playing for a win, the other for its life and existence, an existence threatened far too often across its treacherous journey.

So there was no taking prisoners last night at a raucous and wild WIN Entertainment Centre.

Right from the get-go, this was the Hawks at their finest. Yes, they led by 43 at one point. South East? No, it never even tasted the lead for a second of the 40-minute demolition.

A whopping 37-point first quarter and 15-point buffer was supplemented with a 33-point second, Illawarra's 70-point first half the greatest of the season.

Kell had 26 points at that stage, the Hawks 70-44 ahead and the contest over. He finished with 30 but, like his partner in prime, Tyler Harvey, their work was done.

Blanchfield came off the bench with a sizzling hot hand, equalling his career-best of eight 3-pointers. He was 8-of-10 when the game mattered, but finished on a still exemplary 8-of-12 after a couple of tough attempts to break his record. His 28-point return was his season high.

Will "Davo" Hickey, dunking it through traffic at one end, tearing down the floor to reject a shot on the next play, was inspirational stuff.

Sam Froling had very little to do, Matt Hurt again missing-in-action (four points, 1-of-6 shooting) and now will be primed for the best-of-five Grand Finals. In 15 minutes, Froling still grabbed 12 rebounds, double anyone at South East.

The Phoenix had Joe Wieskamp working hard for his 25 points, Nathan Sobey making no new friends and just too many players unable to cope with the level to which Illawarra took its game.

Justin Tatum drew great minutes from players such as Hickey, Lachy Olbrich, Dan Grida and was able to get 20 quality minutes into Darius Days.

Overwhelmed by their achievement, the Hawks did have a few undisciplined moments towards the end but in every way, this was a thorough triumph and nothing less.

NBL SEMI FINALS (1v4) ILLAWARRA HAWKS v SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX

Game 1 - Illawarra Hawks 101 (Kell, Harvey 24, Blanchfield 16, Froling 10; Kell 10 rebs; Hickey 7 assts) d South East Melbourne Phoenix 94 (Wieskamp 22, Sobey 17, Walton 15, Hurt 10; Sobey 9 rebs; Walton 11 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. Crowd: 5,491 Illawarra leads best-of-three series 1-0

Game 2 - South East Melbourne Phoenix 101 (Hurt 30, Sobey 25, Glover 16, Foxwell 10; Hunter 9 rebs; Glover 5 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 94 (Hickey 19, Froling 11, Harvey 10; Kell 8 rebs; Kell 6 assts) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne. Crowd: 8,636 Series tied 1-1

Game 3 - Illawarra Hawks 126 (Kell 30, Blanchfield 28, Swaka Lo Buluk, Harvey 12, Hickey 11, Olbrich 10; Froling 12 rebs; Hickey 7 assts) d South East Melbourne Phoenix 96 (Wieskamp 25, Sobey 19, Foxwell 13; Hunter, Sobey 6 rebs; Foxwell 3 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. Crowd: 5,203 Illawarra wins series 2-1

NBL SEMI FINALS (2v3) MELBOURNE UNITED v PERTH WILDCATS

Game 1 - Melbourne United 105 (Goulding 41, Clark 22, White 13, Lee 10; White 10 rebs; Dellavedova 9 assts) d Perth Wildcats 93 (Pinder 24, Cotton, Doolittle 22; Pinder 11 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne. Crowd: 7,473. Melbourne leads best-of-three series 1-0

Game 2 - Perth Wildcats 96 (Windler 27, Cotton 18, Doolittle 17, Webster 13, Wagstaff 10; Doolittle, Windler 11 rebs; Doolittle 6 assts) d Melbourne United 89 (Goulding 15, White, Clark, Dellavedova 13, Lee 10; Dellavedova 8 rebs; Dellavedova 12 assts) at RAC Arena, Perth. Crowd: 12,961 Series tied 1-1

Game 3 - Melbourne United 113 (Clark 38, Goulding 30, White 15, Dellavedova 10; White 9 rebs; Dellavedova 11 assts) d Perth Wildcats 112 (Doolittle 37, Cotton 33, Pinder 15, Windler 13; Doolittle 10 rebs; Cotton 6 assts) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne. Crowd: 5,618 Melbourne wins series 2-1

NBL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SCHEDULE (Best-of-Five Grand Finals)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS v MELBOURNE UNITED

Game 1: Saturday, March 8, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 8pm AEDT

Game 2: Wednesday, March 12, John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 7:30pm AEDT

Game 3: Sunday, March 16, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 5:30pm AEDT

Game 4 (if required): Wednesday, March 19, John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 7:30pm AEDT

Game 5 (if required): Sunday, March 23, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 2:30pm AEDT