Crosby-Ironton disciplines students who taunted star basketball player Chloe Johnson

Days after some Crosby-Ironton High School students taunted star eighth-grade basketball player Chloe Johnson during a game, the school’s principal says students have been disciplined and measures taken to prevent future offensive behavior from fans.

The chants targeting Johnson came during Thursday night’s varsity game between Crosby-Ironton and the Duluth Marshall, which the 14-year-old Johnson plays for. Johnson, one of the best eighth-grade players in the country, shared her story in January about overcoming mental health challenges and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

The chanting of “OCD” came from a section of Crosby-Ironton fans when Johnson was holding the ball, according to a Facebook post from Chloe Johnson’s father, Greg Johnson.

“Chloe is a strong kid, but she’s just a kid,” her father wrote. “It took a lot of strength for her to be vulnerable and share her story, but she wanted to.”

Crosby-Ironton High School Principal Jennifer Strom said the administration met with four students about the chants. She said they were punished but declined to say how. The behavior is “certainly not something that we encourage or tolerate,” she said.

Administrators talked with the entire student body the day after the game about expectations for cheer sections and how the school “would not tolerate negative or targeted cheering” going forward, Strom said.

There was also instruction given to the school’s staff who monitor the stands of games to prevent similar behavior, Strom said.

“We definitely have spoken to the monitors and given them some pretty specific expectations for that cheer section,” she said.

Crosby-Ironton plays New London-Spicer at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Williams Arena in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A state girls basketball tournament.