High school notebook: Peccon overcomes injuries, commits to Cal
Darnell Graham
Ringgold’s Chris Peccon suffered injuries in his first three years at Ringgold. That didn’t stop him from scoring 1,000 points in his career and recently committing to California University of Pa.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Bentworth’s Jocelyn Timlin attempts a shot against Uniontown in a soccer match on Aug. 31 of last year. Timlin, who ended her high school career 12th on the WPIAL all-time goals list with 157, has committed to West Virginia Wesleyan.
Injuries over each of his first three seasons could have easily wrecked the basketball career of Ringgold’s Chris Peccon.
Peccon missed a season’s worth of games prior to his senior year. A broken wrist as a freshman knocked him out for 16 games. He sprained his ankle as a sophomore, keeping him out of six games. Then, a bruised kidney put him in the hospital and forced him to miss three games as a junior.
A clean bill of health for his senior year ended up with him landing with a scholarship offer from California University. He committed to the Vulcans in late March.
Peccon, a member of the Herald-Standard Elite Status All-Area Team, helped Ringgold to the PIAA playoffs for the second consecutive year. He averaged 18.8 points per game, 4.6 assists and four rebounds, along with shooting 44% from the field for the Rams.
Peccon’s injuries didn’t prevent him from reaching the 1,000-point milestone. In unique circumstances on Senior Night, Ringgold had to move its section game against Waynesburg to the Rams’ middle school gymnasium. That’s where Peccon scored his 1,000th. He was the eighth player in Ringgold history to do so, and the first since Mike Horan in 1995.
Peccon was considering multiple PSAC schools, including Indiana and Seton Hill. La Roche also was in the mix.
“Thank you to all my friends and teammates for always pushing me to go harder and to never give up on myself,” Peccon said in a tweet. “A special thank you goes out to all my coaches for making me the player I am today on and off the court.”
Staying home
Similar to Peccon, another first-team all-district selection won’t be going very far to play college basketball.
Waynesburg Central’s Lucas Garber won’t have to leave Greene County as he committed to Waynesburg University.
Garber, also a member of the Herald-Standard Elite Status All-Area Team, averaged 20.9 points per game this season.
Soccer choices
One of the best goal scorers the area has ever seen in girls soccer, Bentworth’s Jocelyn Timlin committed to West Virginia Wesleyan.
In her four years for the Bearcats, Timlin became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 157 career goals. She also had 66 assists.
Timlin is 12th in goals in WPIAL girls soccer history and one of only 15 girls in the district to score more than 150 goals. She finished one goal behind Monessen’s Gina Naccarato. Charleroi’s Shellie Cotton is also on the list, scoring 199 goals for the Cougars.
Waynesburg’s Gavin Benson committed to Western Illinois. Benson, a forward for the Raiders, has scored 51 goals in the last two seasons.