Bishop Chatard High School girls basketball coach Kevin Sweeney first knew this season's team was a little different during its summer league games at Southport.

The Trojans had won the program's first sectional titles in 2005 and '06 but lost in the first round of regionals each time and were eliminated in the sectional semifinals last season. The result was that the returning players came out determined to never lose -- even in the often meaningless summer league games.

"I saw (a new) attitude," Sweeney said. "They were serious. In the past it was, 'This is summer ball.' Instead, they didn't want to lose a game, even in summer ball."

That attitude has the Trojans back at Southport for a slightly more important game: semistates.

No. 5 Bishop Chatard (22-4) will play Vincennes-Lincoln (21-3) at 1 p.m. today after coming back from 7- and 13-point deficits last weekend to win the program's first regional title. The winner will play No. 9 Plymouth (20-4) or No. 1 Wawasee (23-2) at 6 p.m. March 1 in Conseco Fieldhouse for the Class 3A state championship.

In addition to the motivation of the sectional loss, Sweeney also credits the program's regional title to the seniors' experience in the previous losses -- Anne Boese and Megan Gardner have been in the playing rotation since 2005, and Caroline Schutzman transferred to the school the following season as a sophomore -- and playing 18 of their past 20 games away from home.

Sweeney didn't work his players quite as hard in practice this season and avoided the injuries that had plagued the team in previous seasons, allowing it to peak at the end of the season instead of the middle.

"We're playing with a tremendous amount of confidence and playing well together," Sweeney said. "The players have an unbelievable desire for the season not to end."

Vincennes-Lincoln has a similar history to Bishop Chatard.

Coach Jason Lane inserted a talented freshman class into the lineup when he was hired three seasons ago and has seen the team's victory total rise from 10 to 14 to 21, winning its first sectional since 1992 and first regional since 1981. The Alices are led by senior point guard Katie McCormick and juniors Brooke Owens (16.5 points, 5 rebounds) and Nicole Young.

"We're a blue-collar team," Lane said. "We have a lot of girls cut from the same mold. We do lots of screening and play good, hard-nosed man-to-man and zone defenses. We're not the fastest team, but we play good position defense. We've only been out-rebounded twice, and we have balanced scoring (behind Owens).

"These girls are close-knit. They do a lot of things together and get along well. We have good team chemistry. It's one of the reasons we're able to play well. Their composure (has been a key). We've had some dry spells in the tournament and gotten down, but the girls never rattle. It takes a lot to get them shook."