Auburn commit Labaron Philon scored 34 points, but none were as big as the last two followed by a last-second steal as Class 7A No. 7 Baker stole a 73-71 win over Class 3A No. 1 Cottage Hill Christian Academy in front of a standing room only crowd on Friday night.

Nine of Philon’s 34 points came in a pivotal fourth period as the Hornets (22-6) clawed back into contention after it appeared CHCA was ready to run away with the game. Philon’s final points — a pair of free throws which broke a 71-all tie — completed a comeback after Baker was down by as many as 11 going into the final stanza.

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“It was a good finish for us,” said Hornet head coach David Armstrong. “We started kind of slow because we had a lot going on this week. We had one kid sign a scholarship for football at Tuskegee and we had another one commit today. We had a lot of stuff going on today, and our mind wasn’t on basketball the whole week.”

Philon committed to Auburn at a school pep rally a few hours before the game, choosing the Tigers over Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, Houston and a host of others.

Cottage Hill, which moved to No. 1 in the final Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 3A regular-season poll, let him and his teammates have it early on in the game.

“It’s been tough for us the whole season,” he said. “The season has not been like we wanted it to go. We had some guys who were injured so we’re just now getting everybody back into that groove. We’ve just got to come out and hit shots and play defense, and we’ll be good in the playoffs because I believe in my guys.”

Josh Flowers added 13 points for Baker.

Baker prevailed in the game despite four Warriors scoring in double figures. Trent Thomas scored 20 points, Tyler Thomas had 18, Shadrick Toodle Jr. had 14 and Tenereo Rowser 13, nine of those points coming on three 3-pointers as CHCA dropped to 22-3. The three losses have come by a combined total of five points.

“Unfortunately for us they were able to hit a couple of big shots down the stretch,” said Cottage Hill Christian head coach Adam Thomas. “We let it slip. I’m not going to point fingers at this or that. We could’ve done things that could have changed the perspective. This bunch is going to learn from it.

“We’re playing some pretty good ball, but we’ve got to learn to close these (games) out. We fell short down the stretch, and we’ve got to do better.”

CHCA led by as many as 12 in the first half and was up by as many as 11 in the third period as the Thomas twins, Toodle and Rowser answered whatever threat the Hornets had with some clutch baskets. The Warriors led 57-49 at the period’s end. But Jaden Campbell’s 3-pointer at the start of the fourth period began Baker’s slow but sure comeback. The game was tied three times down the stretch — the last time coming when Trent Thomas’s jumper made it 71-all.

Baker got the ball back, and Philon drew a foul on a driving layup with 16.6 seconds left in the game. Kelvon McBride fouled out, and Philon went to the line and calmly drained both free throws to break the tie. Cottage Hill Christian called timeout, and attempted to make a play to get to the basket. But Philon stole the ball and went downcourt as time expired.

“It was big with McBride fouling out because that was one of our starters,” said coach Thomas. “He’s with our guys in the middle and he’s breaking the pressure, blocking shots or being in low-post play. It changed the complexion of the game.”

“This was the least prepared we were for a team which we knew what they were going to run and how they were going to do it,” said Armstrong. “We didn’t have a lot of practice time, so we struggled early. We finally figured it out, and we started shooting the ball better and keeping them out of transition. At halftime, I told them to get out and shoot the ball.

“We were going to win or lose shooting the three ball pretty well or we can start going to the goal and getting to the free throw line and see what happens. We kind of did a combination of it and it led to us winning the game.”

“We were down, and I hit two clutch free throws after we came back,” Philon said. “We needed a stop, and I knew my team could count on me. They trusted me to get that stop, and I got it.”

“The play was made on the other side of the floor,” said Armstrong. “Josh and Andersen Madyun did an excellent job of guarding the twins and they couldn’t get a shot off, so they threw the ball across to the other side of the floor and we got the steal.”

Both teams begin area tournament play next week. Baker hosts the Class 7A Area 1 tournament on Tuesday, when it plays Davidson at 5:30 p.m. Cottage Hill Christian hosts the winner of the Mobile Christian-Flomaton contest in Class 3A Area 1 on Thursday night.