The Duluth Marshall girl’s basketball team sits at 5-4 heading into the new year, but for a team with just three seniors on its roster, the Hilltoppers sure knows how to get the job done.

The Hilltoppers are averaging 81 points per game, in addition to averaging 95 points in their wins. A big contributor of those numbers isn’t a senior, but an 8th grader, Chloe Johnson.

“I feel like I already can do a lot of stuff right now,” said Johnson, the Hilltoppers Point Guard. “I feel like when I’m a senior I’ll be able to do a lot more and I think it’ll just be super fun to be with this team for a long time.”

Johnson does plenty for the Hilltoppers, as she’s averaging 31 points per game, and in the top 10 in scoring in the state.

When asked what she’d like to get better at, she responded:

“Probably just like scoring at a higher level and then just keeping everything in my game and being a great teammate and a good leader.”

But while an 8th grader leading a high school varsity team may seem odd, that’s not the case.

“A lot of these girls have been playing varsity since 7th or 8th grade, so a lot of them on a normal basis are like seniors on the court with the years they’ve played,” said Head Coach CJ Osuchukwu.

With a young team comes its pros and cons.

“I think with the youth, it brings a different level of coaching because you still have to coach, but you got to kind of let them make mistakes as they’re going so they can learn from it,” said Osuchukwu.

Osuchukwu also shared his lesson to his team off the court.

“Control what you can control, right? Body language, effort, communication. These are all the things that you can control and let everything else just happen. You will lose some games at the end of the day. Control what you will control.”