Greg Johnson has earned a solid reputation in the first two days of the Jammin' for Jackets Tournament.

Johnson, a 6-4 junior, scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Little Rock Hall pulled away from the Bryant Hornets late for a 64-53 victory in Friday's semifinals at George Cirks Arena.

A night after scoring 17 points in a first-round victory over Little Rock Fair, Johnson was again the Warriors' leading scorer, posting 10 of his points in the game's final 3:43.

"Up until this point, Gregory Johnson is not a household name," Hall Coach Jon Coleman said. "Gregory is an elite athlete. He has size. He has quickness. He can handle the basketball. He can score. It's just up to him to do the little things that's going to make him more than just an average basketball player."

Hall (6-1) never trailed after the game's first five minutes and jumped to a 28-17 halftime lead. Bryant (5-1) got as close as 39-37 with 9:29 remaining and were still within 56-53 at the 1:42 mark, but Johnson scored the game's final eight points. The tournament uses two halves of 16 minutes apiece.

"I was proud of our guys for fighting back that way," Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said. "(Hall) is a big, strong, physical, experienced team and they played that way. That's something we have not seen to that degree. That's going to be a good experience for us."

Bryant scored the game's first four points and led 9-8 with 10:44 remaining in the first half. But the Hornets hit only 5 of 23 first-half field-goal attempts.

Led by sophomore guard Khalen Robinson, who scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, Bryant got back into the contest.

"To his credit, [Robinson] wanted to lead us in that situation," Abrahamson said. "Not in a selfish way, but he felt he needed to step up and be a leader."

Coleman said Bryant's comeback was fueled by the 35-second shot clock used in this tournament.

"In my opinion, it's an adjustment to play with the shot clock," Coleman said. "If there was not a shot clock involved in this game, then when we go up like that, we have a whole series of offenses that we go to. But since there's a shot clock involved you really have to keep playing. That's not our philosophy."

Hall 6-7 junior Kevon Cooper scored eight of his 14 points in the game's seven minutes. Junior guard Jonathan Coleman added 12 points, including nine in a three-minute stretch of the second half.

Bryant junior Rodney Lambert added 13 points and freshman Hunter was good for 10 points. Senior Sam Chumley led the Hornets in rebounding with six.

Hall finished 23 of 46 from the floor while Bryant was 17 of 42. The Warriors outrebounded the Hornets 30-22.

Hall will play Mills, a 95-72 winner over Little Rock Parkview in Friday's late game, in the championship game at 5:30 tonight.