Adam McDermott made his first shot.

Then he made his second, third, fourth and fifth.

"You just keep firing away," said McDermott, whose 14-point flurry in the first quarter propelled Xavier to a 23-4 lead. The Saints rolled over Clinton, 73-38, Monday night in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal boys basketball game at Xavier.

Xavier (11-11) advances to play No.4 Dubuque Senior (20-1) Friday at Dubuque. The Saints lost a 42-34 game to the Rams at Dubuque on Jan. 29.

Xavier came out running plays that set McDermott up for perimeter jump shots.

"He's really grown up here and kind of come into his own the second half of the season," Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann said of McDermott, one of two sophomores in the Saints' starting lineup.

Luehrsmann said he thought early in the season McDermott and Calvin Winker were more concerned with fitting into the team at the expense of playing to their potential.

"They were trying not to step on anybody's toes," Luehrsmann said. "Actually, the upperclassmen stepped up and told those guys before we played Waterloo West (just before Christmas) to be aggressive and be on the attack. Ever since then, they've done a hell of a job of just playing."

McDermott scored the first 12 points of the game. He drained a 3-pointer just 15 seconds into the game, added a floater out of the lane, and a 3-pointer on which he was fouled and made the free throw for a four-point play. His 3-pointer with 4:32 still to play in the first quarter gave the Saints a 12-0 lead.

"He's got a special ability to shoot the ball," Luehrsmann said of McDermott. "He's more than a shooter, though. He knows how to play."

Xavier's lead stretched to 21-0 before Clinton got on the board on a rebound putback by Jacob Judd six minutes into the game.

McDermott added another bucket with 48 seconds left in the period.

Clinton (7-15) never got closer than 13 points the rest of the game, despite 19 points by junior Jalen Jones.

"We just came out firing," said McDermott, who added seven more points over the final three quarters and finished with 21. "We had great preparation and great energy.

"They liked to double-down on stuff and that gave us open looks. I was feeling it and getting great screens."

When the River Kings made an adjustment in the second half it cleared out the inside for Xavier's Matt Nelson, a 6-foot-8 junior who scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half.

"You have to play the role you're given," Nelson said. "I set screens for Adam and he hit the shots.

"Then they had to stop Trey (Sampson), Adam and Andrew (Bisenius). All the credit goes to them for getting me open."

Sampson finished with 15 points, including a steal and dunk with 4:44 left that rocked the Xavier student section.

The continuous clock started when a Robbie Thinnes basket gave Xavier a 35-point lead with 3:13 left in the game.

And thoughts drifted ahead to Friday's rematch at Dubuque Senior.

"We're going to have to see if we can follow up a performance like this with another solid one," Luehrsmann said. "Obviously, it's going to take a great effort to even have a chance there."

Xavier played Dubuque Senior tooth-and-nail in the only meeting of the teams this season. The Saints led at halftime and only trailed by three with around a minute left.

"We're up for it," Nelson said.

CLINTON (38): Derrick Howard 2 0-0 4, Jalen Jones 8 1-2 19, Brady Ernst 3 0-0 6, Jon Cady 1 0-0 3, Jacob Judd 2 0-0 4, Tyler Thacker 0 0-0 0, Austin Reyhons 0 0-0 0, Justin Michel 1 0-0 2, Rodney Witherspoon 0 0-0 0, Zach Pope 0 0-0 0, Robbie Thacker 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 1-2 38.

XAVIER (73): Calvin Winker 1 2-2 4, Trey Sampson 6 0-0 15, Adam McDermott 8 1-1 21, Matt Nelson 8 0-2 16, Corbin Woods 1 0-0 2, Reggie Schulte 1 0-0 2, Andrew Bisenius 1 0-0 3, Robbie Thinnes 3 0-0 6, Matt Downey 0 0-0 0, Patrick Mullin 0 0-0 0, Frank Hill 1 0-0 2, Greg Foxhoven 1 0-0 2, John Peters 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 3-5 73.

Halftime - Xavier 35, Clinton 18. 3-point goals - Clinton 3 (Jones 2, Cady), Xavier 8 (McDermott 4, Sampson 3, Bisenius).