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Photo by Brady Keane
December 19, 2024
Salas, Barrera eclipse 1,000 career points
Bandera Prophet Staff
The Bandera boys and girls basketball teams celebrated a pair of milestone achievements for star players over the last two weeks as senior Eli Salas and senior Gabby Barrera both joined the exclusive 1,000-point club.
Salas hit the mark in a 75-66 loss against Devine last week in a game where he finished with 24 points, six assists and four rebounds. For Barrera, an early 3-pointer Tuesday night against Randolph pushed her over the 1,000-point mark. Barrera finished 16 points and nine steals with in a 53-37 win.
Salas is the first Bandera boys basketball player to exceed 1,000 career points since Ty Neff did so in 2014.
“Eli has been a four-year varsity player for us and has started every game at point guard since he was a sophomore,” Bandera Boys Head Coach Brady Keane said. “Obviously this is a testament to all of his hard-work and the time that he’s put in individually and with his teammates to get better. A lot of times you’ll see 1,000-point scorers who focus solely on the scoring aspect of the game. What gets overshadowed with Eli is that he also has 350 career assists, almost 200 career steals and 400 career rebounds. I can’t say enough about what he has accomplished and am excited to see what he continues to accomplish from here.”
Barrera became the first Bandera girls basketball player to exceed 1,000 career points since Alex Bauml did so in 2016.
“Gabby has been a key part of the success that we’ve had the last couple years, and reaching 1,000 points is a reflection of her hard work,” Bandera Girls Head Coach Cody Carruthers said. “Watching her hit that milestone in front of her teammates and the home crowd was a special moment.”
Salas has been a key part of the Bulldogs three consecutive playoff appearances and earned first team all-district honors as both a sophomore and a junior. This season, Salas is averaging just over 17 points per game on 47% shooting while also chipping in an average of five assists and 4.8 rebounds.
The Bandera boys are 12-4 so far, the team’s best start since 2021-2022 when they went 16-4 through the first 20 games of the year.
“Eli has continued to grow every year as a leader,” Keane said. “He brings energy on both ends of the floor and has gotten more and more vocal. He has goals to play at the collegiate level and he’s done a great job of working to put himself in a position to have a chance to do just that.”
Barrera is averaging 20.4 points per game while also posting an average of 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Barrera and the Lady Bulldogs are 14-4 so far this year, with one tournament left to play over the Christmas break before the start of district play.
“Gabby had to battle through an ankle sprain that kept her out for a few weeks,” Carruthers said. “But she is back to playing solid basketball. Her ability to score in different ways opens things up for us offensively, and she makes it tough on opposing defenses in every game we play.”
Salas hit the mark in a 75-66 loss against Devine last week in a game where he finished with 24 points, six assists and four rebounds. For Barrera, an early 3-pointer Tuesday night against Randolph pushed her over the 1,000-point mark. Barrera finished 16 points and nine steals with in a 53-37 win.
Salas is the first Bandera boys basketball player to exceed 1,000 career points since Ty Neff did so in 2014.
“Eli has been a four-year varsity player for us and has started every game at point guard since he was a sophomore,” Bandera Boys Head Coach Brady Keane said. “Obviously this is a testament to all of his hard-work and the time that he’s put in individually and with his teammates to get better. A lot of times you’ll see 1,000-point scorers who focus solely on the scoring aspect of the game. What gets overshadowed with Eli is that he also has 350 career assists, almost 200 career steals and 400 career rebounds. I can’t say enough about what he has accomplished and am excited to see what he continues to accomplish from here.”
Barrera became the first Bandera girls basketball player to exceed 1,000 career points since Alex Bauml did so in 2016.
“Gabby has been a key part of the success that we’ve had the last couple years, and reaching 1,000 points is a reflection of her hard work,” Bandera Girls Head Coach Cody Carruthers said. “Watching her hit that milestone in front of her teammates and the home crowd was a special moment.”
Salas has been a key part of the Bulldogs three consecutive playoff appearances and earned first team all-district honors as both a sophomore and a junior. This season, Salas is averaging just over 17 points per game on 47% shooting while also chipping in an average of five assists and 4.8 rebounds.
The Bandera boys are 12-4 so far, the team’s best start since 2021-2022 when they went 16-4 through the first 20 games of the year.
“Eli has continued to grow every year as a leader,” Keane said. “He brings energy on both ends of the floor and has gotten more and more vocal. He has goals to play at the collegiate level and he’s done a great job of working to put himself in a position to have a chance to do just that.”
Barrera is averaging 20.4 points per game while also posting an average of 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Barrera and the Lady Bulldogs are 14-4 so far this year, with one tournament left to play over the Christmas break before the start of district play.
“Gabby had to battle through an ankle sprain that kept her out for a few weeks,” Carruthers said. “But she is back to playing solid basketball. Her ability to score in different ways opens things up for us offensively, and she makes it tough on opposing defenses in every game we play.”