Three players scored in double figures and gave Xavier boys basketball coach Ryan Luehrsmann his first Mississippi Valley Conference victory Friday night in a 57-45 win over Dubuque Hempstead at the Xavier gym.

Trey Sampson led the Saints with 14 points. Matt Nelson and Corbin Woods added 11 points apiece.

“It’s a fun group and they have the right approach to the game and are very well-disciplined,” said Luehrsmann, whose team is off to a 4-0 start in his rookie season.“We needed to keep them off the boards and they are very athletic and second chance points were a factor, too.”

It started out a game of spurts—Hempstead jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead due to the sharp shooting of Josh Dolson, who canned two 3-pointers early in the contest.

Xavier rallied back and scored the next 12 points of the half led by the inside play of Nelson, a junior, who used his 6-foot-8 frame in nifty fashion in the paint and scored nine points before intermission.

Xavier trailed 26-21 at halftim, but held a 35-32 lead after three quarters.

“We have big-game kids (with recognizable names from football) in Corbin Woods and Reggie Schulte,” Luehrsmann said.

Fans were treated to some great passing between these outstanding athletes, particularly in the third and fourth quarters.

Old-fashioned three-point plays were key scoring situations for Xavier in the final half.  A Schulte three-point play gave the Saints a 32-30 lead at the 2:18 mark of the third quarter and Hempstead couldn’t recover. Another three-point play at the end of the third quarter seemed to clinch the win.

And a conversion by Woods on an impressive assist by Schulte moved the score to 50-36 in the fourth quarter and virtually sealed the deal.

Hempstead was led by Dolson, who scored 14 points.

“We are a young team piloted by a couple of sophomores, but we’ll steadily get better this year,” Hempstead Coach Curt Deutsch said.

On Saturday, Xavier entertains West Des Moines Dowling Catholic in a girl/boy doubleheader basketball competition beginning at 1 p.m.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD  (45):  Austin Newkirk  1  0-0  2,  Kevin Thurmon  1  0-4  2,  Martell Wilson  2  1-2  7,  Jake Weber  4  0-0  8,  Joshua Carter  1  1-2  3,  Josh Dolson  5  2-3  14,  Christopher Francis  2  1-2  5,  Keanu Arnold  1  2-4  4,  Ty Putchio  0  0-0  0.  Totals 17  7-17  45.

XAVIER (57):  Matt Downey  1  0-0  2,  Calvin Winker  2  0-1  4,  Trey Sampson  5  2-5  14,  Patrick Mullin  0  0-0  0,  Adam McDermott  2  1-1  6,  Greg Foxhoven  0  0-0  0,  Matt Nelson  5  1-2  11,  Corbin Woods  5  0-0  11,  Reggie Schulte  4  1-1  9,  Quinton Scholer  0 0-0  0,  Frank Hill  0  0-0  0.  Totals  24  5-10  57.

Halftime - Hempstead 26, Xavier 21. 3-point goals - Hempstead 4 (Wilson 2, Dolson 2), Xavier 4 (Sampson 2, McDermott, Woods). Fouls - Hempstead 14, Xavier 19. Fouled out - None.