SPRING VALLEY — The Putnam County Panthers clinched a share of their third straight Tri-County Conference championship at Hall on Feb. 8, overcoming a slow start to escape with a 56-54 win.

Evan Kreiser led the Panthers with 16 points. A game high 28-point performance from the Red Devils’ Brett Fanning kept them in contention until the end.

“We came out really flat tonight. We played without much energy. We didn’t look like the same team that played last Friday or last Tuesday,” Panthers’ coach Josh Nauman said. “Nobody was talking and we were not playing with a lot of emotion. We finally picked that up in the fourth quarter and pulled away. Making free throws has been a problem all year, and we actually made some until right at the end we quit hitting the free throws.