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BRYCE Cotton put on a show in Perth as the Wildcats ultimately comfortably eliminated Cairns from the post-season and Tasmania flexed its muscles in front of a 10,000-plus crowd at John Cain Arena, formally consigning South East Melbourne to the club's historic first last-placed finish in its NBL life. 

There was quite some irony in that latter result, given it was the league's youngest club handing the NBL's second youngest club its passport into the basement, the JackJumpers now in three seasons of existence never missing the playoffs. 

But when all 12 members of your roster have scored, seven are in double figures and an eighth has nine points - and none of them are your star import Milton Doyle - your know you're travelling very well.

Doyle still had a game-high five assists after all, as Tasmania swept aside South East Melbourne amid some controversy which saw Phoenix coach Mike Kelly ejected.

He was commending Rhys Vague for his defensive stance despite copping a foul for it, referee Marc Mill suitably and sufficiently unimpressed to issue a technical foul. And a little more Kelly verbal dismay resulted in an unnecessary second tech when Mill simply could have calmed the situation or, better yet, moved away.

By then it already was going pretty poorly for the Phoenix, down Mitch Creek, Alan Williams, Gary Browne, Craig Moller and Owen Foxwell, and needing so much from so few.

Abdel Nader battled away for his 19 points, Ben Ayre was back to his "little man with a chip on his shoulder" attitude, even attracting a technical foul mouthing off after receiving a call in his favour!

Yeah. Not smart, and when he's consumed by behaving that way, his game suffers and so does his team. His six turnovers did not help much either.

Once again needing lesser lights to shine, veterans such as Reuben Te Rangi and Matt Kenyon offered precious little. Returning from injury, Kenyon had an excuse for his seven point contribution.

But Te Rangi yet again was MIA, playing 20 minutes for 0 points, going 0-of-7, with two rebounds, an assist and a turnover. If he isn't already contracted for 2024-25, he should be considering life after basketball on what he has shown this season. And even if he is contracted, he should start planning his life's next phase.

Vague, delivering eight points at 22 percent in 25 minutes, also has been one of this season's major disapppointments.

In contrast and much as it was against Adelaide last round, Tasmania was clinical and precise. Its ball movement was slick, which is why so many shared in the fruits of such unselfish activity.

Leading from tip-off and by as many as 33 points, this only ever was going to be a case of "how much will Tassie win by?" In the end, the answer was 27. 

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 94 (Magnay, McVeigh, MacDonald, Steindl 11, Lee, Crawford, Drmic 10; Lee 7 rebs; Doyle 5 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 67 (Nader 19, Ayre 13, Vague, Rissetto 8; Gak 7 rebs; Nader, Ayre 3 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 10,175

THERE are destined to be changes at Cairns when the regular season closes next week after the Taipans again fell into ill discipline and Patrick "Hey!" Miller decided to play one-on-five late in their unnecessarily big road loss in Perth.

Once popular import Tahjere McCall clearly was out of favour, playing just 8:48 off the bench for four points on 2-of-7 shooting, two rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Maybe he can seek some advice from fellow import Josh Roberts who saw 12:45 of action, or Sam Mennenga, whose daylight consisted of 9:09.

It would not have mattered much if Cairns had been able to sustain its effort for the duration, matching Perth 30-30 in the first and 57-57 to halftime.

Sam Waardenburg was playing like the Sam Waardenburg of 2022-23, scoring 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting before he finally missed his fourth 3-point attempt.

The Cairns strategy of denying Bryce Cotton opportunities worked upto a point, but he had Keanu Pinder and Jordan Usher sharing the scoring load.

Kristian Doolittle quietly paired 15 points and 10 boards as Alex Sarr also shone with 14 points at 67 percent and a game-high 12 boards. His three blocks also were pretty nasty.

Waardenburg had no shortage of willing helpers in the first half and Cairns' tactics of going at Tai Webster resulted in substantially reducing his influence due to foul woes.

Losing Waardenburg to injury was a huge blow, as was Bul Kuol being in foul trouble as usual, fouling out as usual, Lat Mayen also hampering his game with an absence of foul discipline.

Perth's 22-15 third period put it into the box seat but Taran Armstrong, Roberts and Miller - who at one stage scored 10 straight points but with few others handling the ball - kept the scoreboard ticking.

But from 82-84 down, Cairns would score just six more points to the Wildcats' 33, dunks by Pinder and Usher ushering in the avalanche which resulted in a whopping 38-16 final period.

Cotton took over too, on his way to 26 points at 50 percent, with 3-of-5 threes and four assists, Cairns with much to consider in the off-season.   

PERTH WILDCATS 117 (Cotton 26, Pinder, Usher 18, Doolittle 15, Sarr 14; Sarr 12 rebs; Cotton 4 assts) d CAIRNS TAIPANS 88 (Miller 25, Waardenburg 19, Klintman 11; Mayen, Klintman, Armstrong 4 rebs; Miller 5 assts) at RAC Arena. Crowd: 12,895