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The state playoff bracket for Class 5A happened to be laid out so that the only way Hartselle and Pell City could meet would be in the state championship game. That’s exactly how it worked out.

A packed house of 4,000 filled Calhoun’s Kelley Gymnasium on March 12, 1988, to see which Slater would go home a state champion.

“I was a ninth-grader that year and chose to be a cheerleader instead of playing basketball,” Nelson said. “I was at Calhoun sitting on my sister’s side and cheering against my dad’s team.”

The crowd expected a great game and did not leave disappointed. They saw a classic. Hartselle led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter. Pell City mounted a comeback and tied the game at 74-74 with 32 seconds left to play. Hartselle scored with 17 seconds left to make it 76-74. Pell City answered with star player Tonya Tice hitting a 3-point shot with three seconds left to win it, 77-76.

“I have to admit I was absolutely devastated for Jeaniece,” Nelson said. “It was her senior year and last chance at a state championship. I was really mad at my dad.”

“As I got older and moved into coaching, I understood that my dad had a job to do. He had a lot of girls depending on him.”

The success at Pell City worked to help Slater become the women’s coach at Wallace State in Hanceville. Eventually, the girls state tournament moved from Calhoun to Wallace – and Jacksonville, too – before landing in Birmingham to be part of the basketball state finals.

“It was a great moment for my dad,” Jeaniece Slater said. “He was a great basketball coach. It was what he needed to give him a platform to promote the sport as a head coach at Wallace State.”

Larry Slater was inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Upon his induction, Slater looked back at the significance of that game at Calhoun.

“There’s no doubt that game was a launching pad for girls’ basketball in the state,” Slater said. “It’s amazing how far the girl’s game has come. I’ve seen things happen that I never could have imagined.”