Labaron Philon’s play this year has surprised even Baker High basketball coach David Armstrong.

“I don’t know that I would have guessed Labaron would have averaged close to 40 points a game once the season started, but he has taken on a really great leadership role for us,” Armstrong said this week in an interview on Mobile’s Sports Talk 99.5 FM. “We’ve been really banged up for most of this year. We’ve battled sickness. We’ve battled all kinds of different things. We’ve only played with everyone written down in the scorebook once all year long, so he has had to take the load of the scoring for us in the bulk of our games.”

The 6-foot-4 junior has responded resoundingly.

He averaged better than 40 points a game for much of the season and is now averaging 37.9 following the Hornets’ runner-up finish last week in the Huntsville City Classic.

“Now that we are starting to get guys back, his scoring number has dropped but his assist numbers have gone up and our scoring in games has either stayed the same or gone up over the last four or five games,” Armstrong said. “He’s done a great job not only carrying this team when we really need him to offensively but also leading and distributing to others now that we are starting to get guys back.”

Philon, already Baker’s all-time leading scorer, is the reigning Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 7A Player of the Year and a top contender for this year’s Mr. Basketball Award. His team is 13-5 heading into the key month of January.

“I think if you are scoring 18-25 in a game, you are doing really well in high school basketball,” Armstrong said. “There are only 32 minutes in a game, and, for a big chunk of this season, Labaron was averaging close to 44 a game. That’s incredible, and it’s not that he is taking 30 shots a game. A lot of times he is taking 20 shots a game and making 15 or 16 and shooting 87 or 88 percent at the free throw line. I’ve never seen anyone who has averaged more than 25, and he is averaging around 40 right now. It’s really impressive to watch him play.”

In addition to averaging nearly 38 points a game, Philon also is averaging 6.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.5 steals. He is shooting 51 percent from the field, 35 percent for 3-point range and 84.5 percent from the free throw line. That is coming off a sophomore season when he averaged 24.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in helping the Hornets to the Class 7A final four.

Philon is ranked as the top junior in the state of Alabama, according to the 247 composite rankings, and is No. 39 nationally.

“Labaron plays a lot of this really close to the vest,” Armstrong said. “He doesn’t tell many people what he is thinking when it comes to the recruiting side of this. He doesn’t even tell his family, but there are some guys and some schools that are hanging around and we are talking to a lot more than others.

“When we were in Huntsville, LSU came to the championship game. Auburn was at the championship game. Ole Miss was at the championship game. Tennessee and Auburn were at the first game we played in the tournament. Those guys made the trip out there in the middle of getting ready for their first SEC games. That was really cool. Those guys are kind of hanging around a little more than some of the others. I don’t think he has narrowed it down any further, but those are the guys we are seeing the most of lately.”

Philon’s other offers include Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas and South Alabama. Philon and the Hornets host Davidson on Friday.