Defense and depth got her team to overtime, then senior star Anne Boese delivered in the extra period Saturday for the Bishop Chatard High School girls basketball team.

After missing 12 shots in regulation and one more in overtime, Boese's lone basket of the game gave the Class 3A No. 5 Trojans the lead for good with 1 minute, 37 seconds to go in a back-and-forth semistate thriller against Vincennes in the Southport Fieldhouse.

Boese then added 5-of-6 free throws over the final 28.1 seconds to clinch a 56-51 victory and give the program its first State Finals berth. Chatard (23-4) will play No. 9 Plymouth (21-4), a 45-43 winner over No. 1 Wawasee.

"There are so many teams that have one go-to person and if they aren't hitting, their team falls apart," said Boese, who ultimately finished with nine points in support of senior Kelly Gardner, who scored 14, freshman Katie Shaughnessy (12) and senior Caroline Schutzman (10).

"But for our team, if I'm not scoring or if our point guard (Gardner) is out (in foul trouble), we have underclassmen who can step up. They were awesome (Saturday), and that's why we're (going to state)."

Shaughnessy provided a big boost with six points in the fourth quarter and nearly won it with a jumper that rimmed out at the end of regulation, but she wasn't the only young one to keep her team in the game. Freshman Nikki Kimack added five points, and all 10 players contributed to a defensive effort that allowed the Trojans to survive despite Boese and Schutzman scoring less than half their combined 41-point average.

"This wasn't the way we drew it up, but these kids have scratched and clawed and fought all year," Chatard coach Kevin Sweeney said. "If Boese's not scoring, it makes it difficult for us to score, so we knew it would be a battle defensively. But we were able to substitute offense and defense and keep fresh people in there. That helped us come up with a couple of big steals that let us stay close."

Vincennes (21-4), which was paced by 13 points from junior Brooke Owens and 10 each from sophomore Stephanie Jefferson and junior Nicole Young, took a 49-46 lead in overtime on Jefferson's rebound basket. But after Chatard's Kortney Crawford and Shaughnessy hit single free throws, Boese, an IPFW recruit, buried a 3-pointer from the left corner for the lead.

More importantly, all the weight was off her shoulders.

"The play was for me to shoot a 3, and I just took it up," Boese said. "And after I hit it, it felt good. I finally was out of my slump, and that helped me with the free throws at the end. I felt really good, and I was happy to hit those free throws."

Gardner, who was hot early but missed most of the second half with fouls, said she never doubted her team or Boese.

"Our team has been in situations before where our scorers haven't been scoring, and everyone steps up," Gardner said. "Our underclassmen just stepped up huge (Saturday), and we're going to stick together no matter what.

"And Boese, even if she's having a terrible day, you can always count on her to pull through. She's clutch."

Bishop Chatard -- Schutzman 3-11 3-4 10, Gardner 6-12 1-3 14, R. Kimack 0-1 0-0 0, Crawford 1-4 1-2 3, Boese 1-14 6-8 9, Alerding 0-0 2-2 2, McKiernan-Allen 0-0 1-2 1, Shaughnessy 3-9 6-8 12, N. Kimack 2-2 1-2 5, Lee 0-0 0-2 0. Totals: 16-53 21-33 56.

Vincennes -- Young 3-5 3-5 10, McCormick 2-9 0-0 4, Owens 4-7 5-6 13, Held 2-6 0-2 5, Jefferson 5-9 0-1 10, Cardinal 1-3 4-4 6, Nidey 1-4 1-1 3, DeBrock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-43 13-19 51.

3-point shooting -- Chatard 3-16 (Gardner 1-3, Schutzman 1-4, Boese 1-8, Shaughnessy 0-1), Vincennes 2-10 (Young 1-2, Held 1-2, Owens 0-1, Jefferson 0-2, Nidey 0-3). Rebounds -- Chatard 41 (Schutzman 8, Crawford 7, Shaughnessy 6), Vincennes 30 (Jefferson 11, Held 5). Assists -- Chatard 8 (Gardner 3), Vincennes 6 (McCormick 2, Owens 2). Turnovers -- Chatard 11, Vincennes 17. Total fouls -- Chatard 20, Vincennes 26. Fouled out -- Gardner, Held. Officials -- Mark Hopper, P.J. Pitts, Michael Zehr.