RALPH WILSON/For the Express Jersey Shore’s Landon Lathan dribbles the ball downcourt during a basketball game against Warrior Run last season.

As Jersey Shore coach Jon Boob looked for a point guard spark before his debut last season, he gave Landon Lathan a try. What he saw blew him away and Lathan has played there ever since.

More surprising than seeing how good his projected two-guard was at running the offense was Lathan’s response when Boob asked him how often he had played that prior to his junior year.

“Never.”

Call him the accidental point guard, but Lathan also is an excellent one. He proved it again last Wednesday when he dealt nine assists in a last-second 59-56 loss against Shikellamy.

“We put Landon on it and it was like watching a movie where you put somebody in the perfect position for something and you just see it,” Boob said. “I get it because he’s a good shooter, but it’s unbelievable that the kid never played point guard before.”

Lathan has been at the heart of the team’s turnaround the last two years. Jersey Shore (8-7) made an 11-win improvement a year ago and is a few plays from having 10 wins this season. But the stretch run is what matters most and Jersey Shore having a steady leader like Lathan sure provides a lift.

“He’s been phenomenal. He’s our leader,” Boob said. “He’s the one guy everyone listens to and trusts and he controls the basketball really well.”

Lathan has mastered the floor general offense so well that coaches have to push him to be more of a scorer now. His ability to distribute sometimes has defenses backing away because they are looking for him to pass. Meshing the scoring and facilitating is the next step but Lathan making such an impact at point guard has been at the heart of this program’s resurgence.

“He’s our quarterback,” Boob said. “If I could play him all 32 minutes, I would.”