WATERVLIET — Schoolcraft slowed down the pace against Brandywine and used its height advantage inside to defeat the Bobcats 42-33 in the Division 3 regional semifinals Tuesday night.

The Eagles (20-4) raced out to a 12-2 advantage in the opening quarter on the Bobcats, who struggled to get into their offense. Schoolcraft, which had six players listed at 6-foot-4 or better, also dominated the rebounding, which limited Brandywine usually to one shot each trip down the court.

The Eagles ended up with a 25-13 advantage on the boards.

“Clark (Kobe) did a heck of a job controlling the game for them,” said Brandywine coach Nathan Knapp about the Schoolcraft point guard. “We battled, but every time we made a run they hit a three. We also gave up too many layups. Our defense had been as tough as snot all season, but not tonight.”

The Eagles led 12-4 after one quarter and 20-15 at halftime.

The Bobcats cut the lead to 29-28 by the end of the third quarter, but Schoolcraft scored the first four points of the fourth to open up a 33-28 advantage and were able to hold off Brandywine the rest of the way.

Jaden Croom led the Bobcats with 13 points. Shane Brown added seven.

Schoolcraft was led by Trevor DeGroote’s game-high 15 points.

Despite the loss, Brandywine has plenty to be proud of this season. The Bobcats finish the year 20-3 and won both the BCS Athletic Conference Red Division and the Division 3 district championship.

The Bobcats lost five seniors from this year’s team — Derrick Miller Croom, Bryce McLane, Brad Rizzo and Brycen Duffield.

“I feel for our guys,” Knapp said. “They won conference and district and that’s not easy to do. They won two championships and that’s something special. Things just did not bounce our way tonight. We’re going to miss our seniors.”