Well…all good things, they say, must come to an end.

Such was the case Friday for Prairie Village native Sam Hopkins, who strung together two impressive victories on Jeopardy Wednesday and Thursday. Sam looked to be well on his way to a third victory — and potentially on the path to the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions — after the first round, which he led with $6,400, $2,600 more than Benjamin Recchie in second place.

Hopkins was up $10,000 to Recchie’s $7,800 when Hopkins found a Daily Double, and bet $5,000. The clue, in the category “Smaller than Tulsa,” was “In 1530 the Holy Roman Emperor gave it to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem as a base against the Turks.” Hopkins guessed Crete. ‘Twas incorrect. (Malta was the correct response).

So Sam was in second place — but within striking distance. Recchie subsequently went on a tear, though, and had opened up an $18,200 to $9,000 lead over Hopkins at the end of the second round. With more than twice as much money on hand, all Recchie had to do to assure his win was wager zero on Final Jeopardy. Which he did. Smart move.

Unfortunately, local viewers were denied the chance to watch Hopkins’ final Jeopardy! appearance on account of severe weather, with KSHB cutting to Gary Lezak’s tracking of some Bates County tornado activity during Jeopardy!’s slot.

Anydoodle, it was a good run. Thanks for the memories, Sam.