PORT HURON - The make-up of the St. Clair County Community College's women's basketball program continues to have a strong connection to the Thumb area. And, why not? Coach Carrie Lohr knows first-hand the talent that has been developed in those high school programs.

Lohr, in her sixth season with the SC4 Lady Skippers, starred as a guard at Sandusky High, under Al DeMott, in the late 1980s, and went on to play in college.

This year's team has six players with Thumb connections, including Brown City's Kelly Burton, Sandusky's Bobbie May, and Cros-Lex's Jamie Edmunds. All three are contributing on a team that appears to be starting to find itself on the court. Also on the squad are: sophomore guard Kim Lackowski, Ubly; sophomore guard/forward Danielle Woycehoski, Harbor Beach; and, freshman guard Megan Robinet, Mayville.

After a bit of a slow start, the Lady Skippers are 6-4 in the MCCAA Eastern Conference and 9-11 overall.

"We were very inconsistent at the start of the season. We had a lot of freshmen trying to adjust, and that's in addition to having a large squad," said Lohr. "In the first two months we've been trying to keep the confidence level up of the returning sophomores and we had to figure out what all of our freshmen can do."

Now, with less than four weeks to go before the conference tournament, SC4 could be meshing at the right time.

"I really have great kids. I say that all the time, but when times get tough, I can count on them to show up every day and try some things that will fit for us. They want to learn and they have a lot of energy. They give me energy," Lohr noted.

The Lady Skippers have won five of their last six Eastern Conference games, but have a telling stretch coming up when they face four of the top teams. The stretch concludes with Schoolcraft (14-2, ranked No. 5 in the country) at home on Wed., February 6. SC4 gave the Ocelots a run in the first meeting before falling by 10.

Lohr has also just added another Thumb connection to the program, Danielle Lapeer, the former Deckerville, SC4 and Northwood University player, has joined on as an assistant coach this semester. She is on an internship in the college's athletic department.

"I'm happy to have her and that she wants to be here," quickly mentioned Lohr. "She's already coaching and has made a real positive impact, especially with our post players."

Here is a look at the three former Sanilac players on the SC4 team:

Kelly Burton, Brown City, So., 5'7", G

Burton is a two-year starter for the Lady Skippers. A team captain this season, she is averaging 12.5 points per game, second on the team. Just this past Saturday she had 21 points, seven rebounds, four steals and five assists in a win over Oakland CC. Burton comes from a basketball family – dad, Tony Burton, is the longtime boys head coach at Brown City; mom. Cindy Burton, coaches the girls varsity team; also has a brother, A.J., and sister, Kari, playing in the Brown City system.

Lohr commented on Burton's importance to the team. "Kelly has been an exceptional leader, on and off the court. It's really a luxury for me to have a coach's kid. She understands every position. She knows game management and time management."

Burton also gives credit to her parents. "It's helped me in the long run growing up with parents so involved. After every game ( in high school), we'd have a family sit-down and we'd talk about it."

On her play, and the team's, this season, the special education major, added, "It's been going really good. I've grown as a player with the rest of my game. Last year, I was mainly a scorer, but I've learned position defense and doing every other aspect of the game.

"We've had freshmen step up and provide more scoring," she continued. "That takes the pressure off me and Kim (Lackowski), since we're the most experienced guards."

Lohr corroborated, "Kelly's been playing well. Early on this season, she saw a lot of double teams. We've had some freshmen give us a boost so other teams will have to defend everybody. That's happened and now she's able to go out and play."

Burton is looking to continue her college hoops career after SC4 and is considering three or four schools. "My main goal is to get to the next step and finish my career. I am not at a point, yet, where I want to quit playing."

Bobbie May, Sandusky, Fr., 5'4", G

May is seeing considerable playing time at the point for the Lady Skippers and is among the top 15 in the MCCAA in both assists and steals. With outstanding, all-around speed, she was a four-year varsity player at SHS.

Bobbie's really starting to come on," smiled Lohr. "She is continuing to develop her offensive game. She's developed a pull-up jumper and knocks down some threes, and those are the things that have kept her from being a complete player.

"Defensively, she's got it. She's got phenomenal foot speed. She has really established a great defensive presence. She's started a few games, but she's a great sixth man," added Lohr.

May doesn't hold back her excitement for playing for Lohr and the Lady Skippers.

"I like it a lot," she emphatically replied. She also added that she did not quite explode onto the scene in early practices and games, but feels she has come along very well. "(The adjustment) has been different, but I think it's different for everybody. It's a faster pace, that's for sure. But, everybody has their ups and downs. I did before we went to Florida (in December)"

Now, she is fitting into her role and also likes the way the team is improving. "I've started a few times, but right now I'm more comfortable coming off the bench. There's not the pressure. You can watch what's going on for a few a minutes."

On the team, she remarked, "After we played Schoolcraft....we were so close to beating them, and they're nationally ranked – ever since then, we've played pretty well and played well together."

Jamie Edmunds, Cros-Lex, Fr., 5'10", F

Edmunds came in as a walk-on this fall and made the SC4 team. At Cros-Lex, she did not score a lot on a team that looked to score more in transition from pressure defense. However, she is a strong leaper and should help the Lady Skippers more and more in the near future.

Coach Lohr commended Edmunds because of her determination.

"Jamie really has a tough spot – she's behind two sophomore post players and a 6-3 freshman. So, she doesn't get a lot of playing time," explained Lohr. "But, she shows up at practice and works very hard. It hasn't been easy for her. I give her credit for being that player. And, I keep telling her that she won't always be a freshman.

Lohr continued, "I'm confident with Jamie. With her determination to persevere, she'll be confident and ready to help when she gets a chance."

Edmunds , who is looking to obtain an Associate's Degree in Science at SC4 and a degree in nursing after transferring, is definitely showing her persistence.

"I planned in the past year to play here and I came to a lot of open gyms. But, I didn't get a chance for a scholarship," she said. "But coach is giving me a chance (to play). It's hard to come off the bench (after being a starter in high school), but lately she has been giving me more of an opportunity to play and show what I can do. We have different starters almost each game, depending on size and match-ups."

Like most other players making a step up in the level of play from high school to college, Edmunds noted that ‘it's a big adjustment – it's a much faster game."

And, like her two Sanilac County teammates, she also believes the team is making progress this season, and a stretch of wins now would help. "We're getting better. That's (a winning streak) is what we need. We have won (recently) and maybe we can get a streak going."

Here is the remaining schedule for the Lady Skippers this season: Wed., Jan. 30 – at Mott CC, Flint, 5:30 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 2 – Delta College, 1 p.m.; Wed., Feb. 6 – Schoolcraft 5:30 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 9 – at Henry Ford CC, Dearborn, 1 p.m.; Wed., Feb. 13 – at Macomb CC, Warren, 5:30 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 16 – Kirtland CC, 1 p.m.; Wed., Feb. 20 - Alpena CC, 5:30 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 23 – at Wayne County CC, Detroit, 1 p.m.; Feb. 27-Mar. 1 – MCCAA State Tournament, Kettering CC, Flint; Mar. 4-8 – Region XII Tournament at Oakland CC at Waterford.