By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

BROSELEY -- East Carter took host Twin Rivers by surprise at the start of Monday's first-round game in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament before the Royals' speed and depth overtook the Redbirds, resulting in an 86-47 win.

Jordan Fowler knocked down five 3-pointers, finishing with a game-high 21 points for the Royals, who led by as many as 41 points in the second half.

"Jordan, if he's on, he can hurt a lot of people," Twin Rivers coach Rob Brown said. "He's a good, pure shooter. He's kind of a streaky shooter. If he hits that first one, it's going to be pretty good."

The Redbirds ran with the Royals in the first quarter, trailing only 9-7 at the 4:13 mark of the quarter after a layup and free throw by Dustin Frazier, who led East Carter with 16 points.

"That was a fun quarter," East Carter coach Preston Hoagland said. "Sometimes we don't slow down and run our offense like we should. We get layups out of it every once in a while, and we'll take what we can get."

After taking a 22-15 lead in the first quarter, the Royals (14-7) put 37 points on the board in the second quarter to build an insurmountable lead.

The Royals' outside shooting keyed a 22-4 second-quarter run that stretched their lead to 59-27 by halftime.

"We got hot from the 3-point line and that helped us out tremendously," Brown said.

The Royals' success from the perimeter provided them with a significant advantage over the Redbirds and took their opponent by surprise. While Hoagland said his team wanted to focus on interior defense against the Royals, they weren't prepared for the consequences.

"Our goal was to stop (Kyle) Oberkramer down low, and we did alright there, but I didn't think they'd hit 12 3s against us," he said.

Besides Fowler's outside shooting, the Royals got a pair of 3s each from Colton Vancil and Dylan Stockton, as well as a 3-pointer each from Brett Whitlock and Kane Parker.

The Redbirds did their best offensive work running a full-court game when they were able to get defensive rebounds and turnovers away from the Royals.

"We're quick enough with the trap and the halfcourt press to score out of it," Hoagland said. "When people drop back, we don't shoot the ball well enough to establish an offense against a good halfcourt defense."

The Redbirds committed 26 turnovers.

Despite the disappointing outcome of this game and an 0-18 record, Hoagland said his team has made strides as the season has progressed.

"From when we played Meadow Heights day one to now, we're head and shoulders above where we were," he said. "We're just now starting to come together and I hate that the season is going to end."

The Royals got scoring from several sources. Dylan Stockton and Kenny Johnson joined Fowler in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Brett Whitlock finished with nine points off the bench. Starter Kyle Oberkramer also finished with nine.

"We were pretty balanced. When we decide to play as team, we'll get balanced scoring and we can be pretty tough for other teams," Brown said.

The Royals will face Naylor in a semifinal at 8 p.m. Wednesday.