The chances that an expectant mother will give birth to twins is, on average, about three percent.

The chances that those twins will grow to start on the same high school girls basketball team are quite smaller, if not incalculable, but that is just what has taken place at North Hall.

Identical twins Mary Kate and McKenna Rushton have led the Lady Trojans to a 3-1 start in subregion 8A-AAA and hope to lead North Hall back to the state playoffs.

The two have traded the spotlight so far this season, with McKenna leading the way one night and Mary Kate the next. Last week, it was Mary Kate’s turn to shine.

The junior scored 27 points with 11 rebounds and nine steals in North Hall’s 66-53 win over Franklin County on Tuesday and followed that with an 18-point performance in a 65-46 rout of Stephens County on Friday.

For her efforts, Mary Kate is The Times Athlete of the Week.

Both Rushtons believe that having the other on the team has been beneficial to their development as basketball players.

“We push each other,” Mary Kate said. “Whenever (McKenna) has a good game or does something really well, I want to do it better.”

The two have played together at every level, according to Mary Kate, and each has always wanted to do just a little bit better than the other.

“We definitely compete against each other,” McKenna added. “And that has made the both of us better on the court.”

Not only has the sibling rivalry aided their progress as players, it has been a blessing for North Hall.

“It has been really nice to have the two of them on the floor together, pushing each other,” North Hall coach Kristi House said. “McKenna has been a starter since her freshman year and to have Mary Kate come into her own and start doing all of the things that we knew she could on the court, it’s been really great for our program.”

Mary Kate labeled herself as a “sixth man” last season, coming off of the bench for the most part and starting a few games, but is now firmly entrenched as a starter.

At 5 feet, 9 inches, the sisters are the tallest players on the Lady Trojans squad, according to Mary Kate. With the lack of any significant height, House has tried to focus the team on putting forth a tenacious defensive effort each game.

And she believes it’s working.

“They are coming along,” House said. “I’ve been trying to get that mentality installed in the program and, so far, the girls have responded.”

While their 8-10 overall record is not overly impressive, four of those losses were by single digits and two were against teams from a high classification.

North Hall’s most recent game, a 77-32 loss to Class A’s top-ranked Wesleyan, may have benefits when the Lady Trojans visit subregion-leading Chestatee at 6 p.m. tonight.

“Hopefully they will want to redeem that loss,” House said. “They should come out ready to play.”

North Hall has lost to Chestatee in both previous meetings this season, including a 44-41 heartbreaker in the Lanierland Tournament on Dec. 21.

The tallest task for North Hall tonight will be stopping Chestatee’s tallest player, 6-foot-2 senior Peyton Robertson.

“She hard to contain,” Mary Kate said. “We just have to play solid defense on the whole team and hopefully limit her looks.”

House said that the Lady Trojans don’t automatically double-team when the ball goes into the post but that she will probably have the team incorporate that into their game plan for Robertson.

“They’ve got some good guards too, though,” House is quick to point out. “They’ve shown all year that, if you manage to shut Robertson down, their guards can beat you.”