One day after a 57-42 season-opening loss to Wakefield High, the Imps jumped to a 24-13 halftime lead at Broughton High and looked as if they would run away from the Caps.

Looks, though, were deceiving as Broughton rallied in the second half for a 50-40 victory.

The Imps were scheduled to host Sanderson High on Monday night. Results were not available at deadline.

Cary coach Steve Crute said his team just stopped doing what it had in the first half against Broughton and allowed the Caps to climb back into the game.

“We just quit executing on the offensive end and they gained a lot of momentum off steals and put-backs,” Crute said. “We just weren’t able to keep up with them down the stretch.”

Cary forward Ashley Rogers agreed with Crute’s assessment of the offense, and blamed a lack of patience for the inconsistency in the third quarter.

“We let that get to us,” Rogers said. “We need to work on our offense and slow it down more.”

Crute added that in the first half his team played well in all phases and got the lead by never allowing Broughton to get in an offensive rhythm.

“We executed both offensively and defensively,” he said. “And they weren’t able to get that run. And that’s a good team over there.”

Cary point guard Brittany King, who led all scorers with 17 points, said the defensive lapse in the third quarter came from a lack of communication, which led to some silly mistakes that cost them the game.

“We stopped helping on defense,” King said. “We were reaching and fouling.”

Throughout the game and in the fourth quarter especially, the Imps found their way to the free throw line, but had troubles converting. For the game Cary was 14-of-25 from the charity stripe. That, Rogers admitted, may have been the difference in the game.

“[Free throws] are crucial,” she said. “We lost by 10, so we could’ve won if we’d just made our foul shots.”

Crute, however, downplayed the impact of the free-throw shooting on the outcome of the game.

“It’s a little deflating, but they missed a lot of them too,” he said. “So it’s hard to put it all on that.”

Despite a rocky 0-2 start and the problems executing on both ends of the court, Crute is convinced the Imps can have a successful season.

“We have to do the little things every time to win,” he said. “And right now we’re close. We’re doing it about three quarters of the game, but it’s coming. We’re going to be good. I’m very optimistic.”

King said the team just needs some practice time to iron out the kinks and it will be OK.

“We didn’t have a chance to practice after the first game,” she said. “So we just have got to get back to practice and work hard.”