Baker basketball coach David Armstrong seldom has to say anything to star point guard and Mr. Basketball contender Labaron Philon.

“His basketball IQ is so high,” Armstrong said. “He understands what he needs to do to make the flow of the game go our way.”

On Monday morning at South Alabama that meant scoring 46 points – including 36 in the second half – to lead the Hornets to a 67-61 comeback win over LeFlore in the Bridge Builder Classic at the Mitchell Center.

“I’m proud of him for leading this team and pushing them the way he pushes them,” Armstrong said of Philon. “He knows he has to do some things when we are struggling shooting the ball outside of him, and tonight he picked up the mantle and led. He talked to the guys on defense. When he was out of the game in foul trouble, he was leading from the bench. The kid is incredibly special. He makes my job easy.”

The 6-foot-4 junior and reigning Class 7A Player of the Year recently cut his list of colleges down to Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee. He said following Monday’s game he plans to make a commitment next month, though he added that his recruitment was still “wide open.”

Philon got off to a quick start against LeFlore, scoring 10 of his team’s 15 points in the first quarter, but picked up his third foul with 5:39 left in the second. He went to the bench for the rest of the half, and his team trailed 31-22 at intermission.

“I had to take him out, and we had to survive the last five minutes without our best player on the floor,” Armstrong said. “To only go in down 9, I wasn’t to upset about that, but we needed to go out and be better in the second half.”

LeFlore built the lead to 34-22 in the opening minutes of the third quarter on Brittney Reed’s 3-pointer, but the Philon show was on after that.

He scored his team’s next 30 points, driving to the basket consistently for either layups, foul shots or both. His layup with 3:13 left gave his team a 52-50 advantage.

“My shot was a little off, so I had to get to the rim,” he said. “We got them in foul trouble. I think we fouled three of their guys out, so that was important.”

Baker (17-5) took the lead for good with seven straight points, a stretch that included a pair of non-Philon baskets by Charles Taylor and Josh Flowers. The Hornets led 59-53 at that point. LeFlore closed to within three twice – the final time at 64-61 with 53 seconds left, but Philon hit three free throws to finish it off.

He then hit a midcourt gritty to close it out.

“I sat out a little bit obviously in that first half,” Philon said. “My teammates thought I might be a little cold, so they said they were going to get me the ball. I did what I had to do.”

Philon went 22-of-29 from the free throw line and 12-of-19 from the field. He didn’t hit a 3-pointer (0 for 3). He also had 4 steals, 4 rebounds and an assist.

“I don’t have to say a word and you don’t have to say anything to the guys,” Armstrong said about getting the ball to his star. “They know, ‘Look, we need Labaron to be Labaron right now so we can win this game.’ He did a great job of that tonight, and my other guys did their job as well.”

Taylor followed Philon with 14 points. Lovalle Nelson added 3 points and Jaden Campbell and Josh Flowers each had 2 for the Hornets, who play again Wednesday at Davidson.

Blount 61, McIntosh 48

In the opening game of the Bridge Builder Classic, Blount broke open a close game in the fourth quarter and pulled away for the win.

Joseph Paige led the way for the Leopards (14-6) with 19 points. AJ Jackson followed with 15 and Jerry Brand had 10.

“We started pressing in the second half to try to speed the game up a little bit,” Blount coach Demarcus Mosley said. “We had a 6-0 run that kind of got us going. In the first half, we played a lot of zone, but the press really helped break it open.”

Chuckie Barnes led the Demons with 14 points. Treveyon Hill followed with 11.

The Leopards host Saraland on Tuesday.

“I like the way we are playing right now,” Mosley said. “I made some adjustments to the lineup, went a little bigger, and we are going to roll with that for the rest of the season.”