Albany basketballers Evan Delbene, Billy McRae and Keely Berry shine at under-16 national championships

Albany basketball trio Evan Delbene, Billy McRae and Keely Berry performed strongly at the under-16 Australian Junior Championships that wrapped up at Warwick Stadium in Perth last week.

The exciting competition was held from July 3-10 with 12 teams taking part from around Australia.

A grand final and third-place play-off match was played to determine the gold, silver and bronze medallists of the tournament.

New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Tasmania all fielded teams from metro and country zones.

The WA Country boys competed in eight games across the competition while the WA Country girls played in nine matches.

Despite the WA squad registering only one win across their eight games to finish in 12th place, Delbene and McRae’s contribution was highlighted in their side’s terrific 68-point victory against Northern Territory.

Delbene recorded 26 points, shooting an impressive field-goal percentage of 54 and pulling down four offensive rebounds and grabbing six steals in the dominant 126-58 victory.

McRae was also superb, coming off the bench to notch 21 points at 66 per cent from the field to go with three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Delbene averaged 10 points, three rebounds and one assist across the competition.

McRae posted averages of five points, two rebounds and one assist.

The WA Country girls squad managed to secure two wins from nine games on their way to an eighth-place finish in the tournament, defeating Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory in their second and sixth games, respectively.

Berry enjoyed her best performance against NT, sinking three of her seven shot attempts (11 points).

She shot at an impressive 83 per cent with five of six attempts from the free-throw line and registered seven rebounds in the 88-55 triumph.

Berry averaged five points, five rebounds and one assist across the competition.

All three promising young players were selected in the State Performance Squads in late March.

The Junior Championships were the first time any of the budding stars played in matches at State level.

Vic Metro won the gold medal in the boys competition while NSW Metro took out top honours in the girls division.

WA Metro boys secured the bronze medal in their match against SA Metro while VIC Metro edged out VIC Country to win bronze.