![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/236c04089e7f416bebe1ddf52517b68739752ab3.jpg\")
Camera IconThe Australian team with their silver medals, including Albany\u2019s Billy McRae, line up in Samoa. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\nAlbany\u2019s Billy McRae came home with a silver medal this week after playing his first tournament in Australian colours.<\/p>\n
McRae was picked for the national side that reached the final of the FIBA under-17 Oceania Cup, which finished in Samoa on December 13.<\/p>\n
Absolutely cock-a-hoop at his selection for the Crocs, his best performance in Samoa came in the semifinal when he bagged a personal haul of 19 points in Australia\u2019s 124-51 victory over Guam.<\/p>\n
He also racked up 14 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in a stellar game.<\/p>\n
McRae, who started his basketball career with the Raiders in Albany, was disappointed with the silver medal but loved the whole experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe silver wasn\u2019t great because Australia doesn\u2019t often lose those tournaments, but the experience was so special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust seeing Australia on my jersey was so cool and something I had always dreamed of.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like anything I had ever done before, it really meant a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camera IconThe Australian team with their silver medals, including Albany\u2019s Billy McRae, line up in Samoa. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n
A Perth Wildcats Academy player, he has just signed for Warwick Senators in the NBL1 West, leaving Perry Lakes Hawks in search of more game time.<\/p>\n
He said he wanted to acknowledge all the coaches in both Albany and Perth who had helped him on a journey which he hopes will take him to under-21 internationals next year and then to the under-18 Asia Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been so many people who have helped get me into the sport and into teams,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so grateful to them all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having just left school, he is aiming to concentrate on basketball next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am definitely enjoying life at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so committed heading to the Oceania tournament that it is nice to have a week off and hang out with my mates before heading to Albany to spend time with family.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that I want to be as professional as possible, do my best with the Senators and try to get better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Oceania final against New Zealand was a chaotic affair as the Tall Blacks nicked the first quarter 21-20 and there was still just a point in it after the teams shared the second quarter 18-18.<\/p>\n
After half-time, however, the Kiwis edged in front to lead 61-54 and then switched on the afterburners to roar home 82-62 with an unstoppable fourth-quarter blast.<\/p>\n
Both sides qualified for the 2026 FIBA under-18 Asia Cup in Qatar with the World Cup also on McRae\u2019s horizon the following year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albany\u2019s Billy McRae came home with a silver medal this week after playing his first tournament in Australian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[135983,64,63,135984,44,13262,588],"class_list":["post-353999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-albany-advertiser","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-great-southern-sport","tag-news","tag-regional","tag-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}