TAUNTON – It took until the final play in overtime, but Wareham is heading back to the state final to defend last year’s crown.

An unselfish Ajay Lopes found Antoine Crosson underneath the basket to lift top-seeded Wareham over No. 4 Millbury 67-65 in the Div. 4 semifinals at Taunton High on Tuesday night.

“We’ve been through a lot of experiences, but we haven’t necessarily had a lot of close games,” Vikings coach Steve Faniel said about his nine seniors stepping up. “We didn’t always execute the way we were supposed to down the stretch, so I think those experiences helped us execute when we had to have it most tonight.”

In the fourth, Wareham (22-3) went up 51-41 just over 90 seconds gone. Millbury (20-6) started its comeback with an 8-0 run as senior Kenny Donnelly hit a layup to cut the deficit to 51-49 with 3:22 to go. The Vikings pushed the lead out to 55-51 on baskets for Lopes and senior captain Diego Mello before five straight points for senior Tyler Vaccaro put the Woolies in front 56-55 for the first time since leading 6-0.

Mello hit a pair of free throws to put Wareham back in front 57-56 and sophomore Aaron Cote knocked down another pair to make it 59-56 with 25 ticks left in regulation.

After a Millbury timeout, senior Kenny Donnelly (24 points) drilled his first triple since the first half to knot the score at 59-59. He nearly hit the game-winner off a Vikings’ turnover as well.

“We didn’t execute necessarily the way we wanted down the stretch, but the kids played with their great grit,” said Faniel. “They didn’t give up and played with good heart.”

In the overtime, the teams traded buckets with four lead changes and three ties, with neither team going up more than two before Crosson (12 points, seven boards) won it at the buzzer.

“It feels really good,” Crosson said about getting back to the state title contest. “We worked very hard. It was a long season, but I’m proud that we are going back.”

In the first half, Lopes dominated with 11 of his team-high 19 points as Wareham led 16-14 after one and 27-21 at the half.

Millbury caught up in the third as the Woolies made it a 42-39 contest before five straight free throws pushed the lead back out for the Vikings 47-39 after three.

Lopes also assisted on five other field goals as he had a hand in 13 of the team’s 22 buckets on the evening.

“(Lopes) is a great player and Millbury has a tough defense,” Faniel said. “They were pushing us out of our spots and maybe we were getting out of our sets a bit. When in doubt, we got (Lopes) downhill. We get him going into the paint and he’s tough to cover down there.”

Next up, Wareham will take on the winner of Bourne/Burke this weekend at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

“We have to go (into the final game) with heart,” Lopes said about playing Bourne or Burke. “We know that if we go in with heart and don’t break, then we can win. We can do it again and make history.”