ORONO – The strategic switch his Caribou Vikings made with five minutes left in Saturday’s schoolgirl basketball game wasn’t supposed to be a stall, coach Jeff Jose will tell you.

And when he called timeout and made the change, he didn’t figure that the Vikes would only attempt one more field goal for the rest of the game, or that they’d finish the half with a chilly 2-for-16 shooting effort.

But he did figure that the double high-post delay scheme would help him protect a three-point lead against a rallying Orono Red Riots squad.

It did.

Jose’s undersized Vikings held on for a 33-30 win to improve to 2-1. Orono is also 2-1.

“We were just trying to pull them out of their zone and get ’em to a man-to-man so we could open it up a little bit,” Jose said.

That tactic was OK with Orono coach Steve Gardner, who had two top players (6-0 forward Jessica Wagner and 5-8 guard Molly Dupere) on the floor with four fouls at the time.

Orono had scored three straight hoops to open the fourth quarter and trim a 30-21 deficit to just three points.

“I didn’t mind that they did it that early, because we were only down three at the time,” Gardner said. “And we got the ball twice off of it and we just didn’t take good shots down on this end.”

Orono did have its chances down the stretch, coming up with a rebound off the only shot Caribou did attempt (with about three minutes to go), and forcing two turnovers.

But the Vikings never let the Riots get any closer.

Caribou’s Monica Selander and Jessica Cyr came up with big blocked shots in the final three minutes and the Vikings made enough free throws (3 of 6) down the stretch to pull out the win.

Cyr, who finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals and the block, said her coach’s decision put the small, quick Vikings into a situation they were comfortable with.

“We’re better offensively when they’re playing us man, because our offense works better,” Cyr said. “When they played us zone, we don’t get off good shots and we just kind of pass it around.”

While Orono enjoyed a distinct size advantage (Cyr is listed at 5-8, but admits that she’s probably 5-6, and that the tallest player on the team is 5-7), the scrappy Vikings never let that matter.

Caribou and Orono grabbed 33 rebounds apiece, and early foul trouble limited Wagner a bit. She finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Seven of her boards came on the offensive end. Dupere scored 11 to lead the Riots.

Five Caribou players grabbed five rebounds or more, including junior captain Leah Drew (10 points, five rebounds).

Drew said the Vikings made sure they took care of things on the defensive end, especially when it came to plugging the middle – and Wagner – out of their 1-2-2 set.

“We’re not a great offensive team, so we try to make up for it on defense,” Drew said.

They succeeded, especially in the first half: Caribou held Orono to a 3-for-26 (11.5 percent) shooting nightmare in the first 16 minutes en route to a 19-9 lead at the break.

“In the first half we played as good defense as we [have] all year,” Jose said. “We were trying to pick them up at halfcourt and take them out of their rhythm.”

Gardner said the Riots didn’t react well to the 1-2-2 zone, and when they did get the ball where they wanted it, they weren’t able to convert.

VIKINGS 33, RED RIOTS 30

Caribou (2-1) Orono (2-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Dubois 1 1 0 0 2 See 0 9 1

Bouchard 0 5 1 2 1 Dupere 5 14 11

Harrigan 0 2 2 2 2 Reed 0 2 0

Cyr 3 13 4 5 12 Shay 0 0 0 0

Vincent 0 1 0 1 0 Gray 2 3 4

Burlock 1 2 2 2 4 Wagner 3 8 10

Drew 3 8 3 6 10 Lint 1 3 0 2

Selander 1 7 0 0 2 Saucier 1 9 2

Totals 9 39 12 18 33 Totals 12 48 11 30

Caribou 6 19 30 33

Orono 6 9 21 30

3-pt. goals: Caribou (3-13): Bouchard 0-2, Harrigan 0-1, Cyr 2-8, Vincent 0-1, Drew 1-1; Orono (1-7): See 0-1, Dupere 1-4, Wagner 0-1, Saucier 0-1

Attendance: 80 (est.)

Preliminary: Orono JV 37-26