The Long County Blue Tide Super Smash Bros. team Splash Smash and its seniors knew they had one last chance to win a state championship. They looked to advanced past the third round for the first time in team history, but fell to the Perry Panthers on Tuesday, December 3.

Splash Smash, ranked fourth in the state coming into the playoffs, had already handled Cambridge and Gilmer in the first two rounds, winning 3-1 and 3-0. They faced off against Perry, a rematch from the first game of the season that they lost.

Things started off well for Splash Smash as Kody Heredia gave his team an early advantage, using his Fox main to beat a Yoshi and Donkey Kong user 2-1 in the first set.

Patrick McClennon was up next as he took on a Captain Falcon user. This was a matchup of both teams’ best players as McClennon started off with his Bowser.

In the first game, he lost 2-0 after falling behind 3-1 early in the game and was not able to make a recovery. He switched to Mario for the second game and came closer to pulling out the win, but lost 1-0 to bring the match score to 1-1.

Ben Stokes was up next and used Steve to handle his opponent 2-0. He defeated King K. Rool in the first game 1-0 and then Sora in the second game 2-0. They took a 2-1 series lead into the fourth set.

Stokes took on the Captain Falcon user in the set and came close in both games, dropping them 1-0 after falling behind early in the two games. It came down to a decisive fifth set as McClennon took on the King K. Rool user from Stokes’ first set.

McClennon, using Mario, took down his opponent 1-0 in the first game to take a 1-0 lead. His opponent switched to Joker in the second game and seemed to flip the script on McClennon.

He dropped the second game 2-0 and brought the match down to a final game. Down 2-1, McClennon tied the game at 1-1 while taking 49 damage on his last life.

McClennon used a flurry of aerial moves and offstage offense to try and take out his opponent. He seemed to have the upperhand before a mistimed jump back to the stage went awry as he fell, bringing the game to a 1-0 win for the Joker.

With the loss, Splash Smash finished 9-2 on the season and ranked fifth in the state out of over 100 teams.