Jan 29, 2020 3 min read

Name: Chris Peccon

School: Ringgold

Sport: Basketball

Class: Senior

Peccon’s week: A water leak in the Ringgold High School gymnasium had Peccon and the rest of the Rams turning back the clock.

Moving to the middle school gymnasium, Peccon reached the 1,000-point milestone in his career by scoring 22 points in a 71-34 win over Class 4A Section 3 foe Waynesburg last Friday.

He entered the game needing 21 points to reach the milestone. A layup midway through the fourth quarter gave him the game-high 22 points.

“I’ve always had it on my mind,” Peccon said. “I set my mind to it. It just happened to fall on Senior Night. It was just all so surreal, I couldn’t believe it. I started to tear up a little bit.”

Peccon became the eighth player in program history to score 1,000 points, the last being Mike Horan who played on Ringgold’s state championship team in 1995.

“He’s also top five in assists since 1986,” longtime Ringgold coach Phil Pergola said about Peccon. “He’s a hard worker. He puts in a lot of time, especially working on his shot and offensive moves. On days we don’t have practice you will find him at the YMCA.”

Struggles to success: The victory over Waynesburg clinched the Rams a playoff berth for the second consecutive season, just two years removed from when they were ravaged by injuries and went 3-19 without a section win.

Sophomores at the time, Peccon, Luke Wyvratt and Ben Lawrence, each of whom were penciled into Pergola’s starting lineup, were injured throughout the trying season. Wyvratt hurt his foot before the season began and was out until late December. A lower-body injury forced Lawrence out for more than the final half of the year. Peccon hurt his ankle. There wasn’t a single game when all three were healthy.

“It wore me out and wore them out,” Pergola said.

Peccon and his teammates worked over the summer to make sure that wouldn’t happen again.

“That year we really struggled in a really great section,” Peccon said. “After the season, that entire summer we got stronger, grew up a little bit and won 14 games and a state playoff game the following year.”

Injuries have been a part of Peccon’s career at Ringgold, making the feat of scoring 1,000 points even more rewarding. He missed 25 total games in each of his first three seasons, injuring his ankle, wrist and bruising a kidney, all in separate years.

“Once I set a goal, I want to achieve it,” Peccon said. “I’m hardworking and determined. My goal is to make my teammates around me better and get something out of every day.”

Compiled by staff writer Luke Campbell.