Considering a week that saw one of his players sustain a broken nose and dislocated finger and his star player hospitalized with a concussion, Scott City basketball coach Derek McCord should have seen the writing on the wall.

But he didn't and that made Wednesday's 56-47 loss to Portageville in the Class 2A Sectional at Cape Central's Tiger Field House all the more painful.

"It hurts so bad I can't describe it," said an emotional McCord as he sat dejectedly on the steps of the locker room corridor. "What makes this so tough is we lost without our best player. You want to lose with your best on the floor."

Scott City's "best" is Jon Beck. But after a scoreless first half, the 5-11 junior sat out the entire second half with a bag of ice on his head suffering from dizziness. Monday in practice, Beck sustained a concussion and spent the night in the hospital.

"He tried to play tonight but he couldn't," said McCord. "He just got too dizzy."

Without Beck's 23 points per game average on the floor, the Bulldogs avenged a 70-62 regular-season loss to the Rams. Getting balanced scoring from five different players, Portageville (23-4) advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal at Park Hills Central to play Lutheran North (23-7).

"If we have Jon Beck you have to believe it's a different ball game," McCord said. "We beat them by eight with him."

For the second year in a row Scott City's season was cut short in the sectional round at Cape Central. The Rams, ranked sixth in Class 2A, finished the season with a school-best 27-3 mark.

Portageville coach Jim Bidewell should understand how McCord felt with the loss of his top scorer. After Christmas, Bidewell lost two of his starters for the season due to disciplinary reasons.

"We've overcome a lot of obstacles this season," said Bidewell. "We don't have any superstars, but these kids work awfully hard."

Despite Beck missing all four of his shots in the first half, Scott City still held a 20-18 halftime lead. Portageville's L.J. Little banked in a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to knot the score 34-34 entering the final period.

Portageville opened with an 8-2 run to open the fourth quarter and never trailed again. After struggling from the field for three quarters, the Bulldogs made 7 of 8 shots in the final frame.

"We missed a lot of shots we don't normally miss," said Portageville coach Jim Bidewell. "Maybe both teams were a little tense."

Senior Tim Lowery, playing his final game for Scott City, ended his career with a gutsy effort, scoring a team-high 17 points. Senior Howie Stubenrauch, playing with the broken nose and dislocated finger, and sophomore Ryan Weatherspoon added 10 points each.

"Even with all the adversity they still fought to the end," McCord said. "That's the good thing about sports; there's a lot of life lessons. These guys tackled the adversity and played hard. Everybody that played tonight played hard for me."

Richie Garmon led Portageville with 15 points.

"Portageville dominated us on the boards," McCord said. "They're a lot bigger and a lot more athletic."