JAMMIN’ FOR JACKETS

Hall pulls away behind Portis, wins ‘ugly’ one

— Senior center Bobby Portis had 15 points and 9 rebounds as Little Rock Hall defeated Mills 62-49 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Joe Johnson Jammin’ for Jackets tournament.

Hall (5-2) led 24-20 at halftime after both teams started slowly. Portis scored the first six points for Hall with turnaround jump shots in the lane, and the Warriors led 6-4 at 10:25. Mills (4-2) stayed close by cutting to the basket and drawing fouls. Mills was 3 of 19 from the floor in the first half but went 14 of 20 from the free throw line.

“We knew it would be a tough basketball game,” Hall Coach Jon Coleman said. “They found a way to muddy up the game. It was an ugly game, I thought.”

Hall never trailed and expanded its lead by scoring the first nine points of the second half. Portis had a one-handed dunk under pressure that pushed Hall ahead 39-29 at 10:08. Mills didn’t get within eight points the rest of the game.

Roy Owens added 12 points and five rebounds for Hall. Shaquan Fletcher had a game-high 22 points for Mills, which made 15 of 18 from the free-throw line.

Sports, Pages 23 on 12/08/2012

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