After three years of building Cary High's boys lacrosse program from scratch, coach Jake Nantz is finally enjoying the fruits of his labor. With a 15-4 record, the Imps have won more games this season than in their previous three seasons combined. And the year is still under way.

"Really, the biggest difference this year is we came into the season believing we could do it," Nantz said. "With added depth and a change in our offense, we've really turned things around."

The Imps entered the N.C. High School Lacrosse Association's 4-A Tournament as a No. 9 seed and were scheduled to play eighth-seeded Green Hope High (11-5) in the opening round on Tuesday.

Nantz, a former defenseman and goalie at Lees-McRae College and N.C. State, knows how to teach the sport from the beginning level to the top. But his skills and knowledge of the game was not something he anticipated using when he started teaching at Cary four years ago.

"I found that there was some interest and John Hayden, the coach at Apex, showed me what he did to get his program started and kind of helped me out with the behind the scenes things," he said. "The sport sells itself, but the Apex coaching staff helped a lot as far as getting things going."

Now, Apex is one of Cary's biggest rivals on the field. The Imps are currently ranked No. 12 among 4-A schools with its only losses this season against Apex and Green Hope, who are ranked No. 3 and No. 9 respectively.

After going 4-12 last year, the Imps' offense has been the key to the drastic turnaround, with Mark Bowler and Taylor Bethea leading the way. Though a few key players continue to stand out, Nantz credits the change to an overall team contribution.

"Bowler and Bethea are probably our biggest finishers, but the key this year, which we've never had before, is depth," Nantz said. "We've always had one, maybe two strong players, but this year we have seven players who are in double digits in goals. The most we've ever had in the past was three."

Among the nine seniors, Forrest MacConnell and Tanner Millis have signed national letters of intent with Nantz's alma mater, Lees-McRae. Millis has played since the program's birth and has had his eyes on playing at the college level since his sophomore season. As his prep career winds down, he's focused on proving any naysayers wrong.

"This year we've just really been working together," he said. "Our offense and our attack definitely improved and more individuals have really stepped up, like Bowler and Bethea. They're just disgusting to watch."

Bowler, a junior, has shattered the majority of the team's previous career-high records (goals, assists and points). Bethea, only a sophomore, does not trail far behind on the leaders board.

Though Cary will lose a number of players to graduation next year, depth does not look like it will be a problem as 19 juniors move up. Bethea is not overly concerned.

"We're only graduating two starters, MacConnell and Brandon Patel, and I think a number of other players have really stepped it up," he said. "We've just really been working well together."

Despite a 14-3 regular season-ending loss to Apex High on May 5, the Imps have accomplished one goal already this season -- not finishing last in the five-team Capital City West Conference.

"We've been last every other year, so this is a big accomplishment," Nantz said.