Always a winner: Success followed Davis Teslovich throughout her 1,000-point high school career
Brownsville High School has had a very good history of developing girls basketball standouts. One of the very best is Cara Davis Teslovich who got an early start in athletics.
“I started like a lot of kids with youth T-ball and soccer,” Davis Teslovich stated. “I really didn’t truly pick up basketball until I was in sixth grade. I played in the Brownsville Biddy League and that’s when the basketball started.”
Davis Teslovich started her high school career at Geibel Catholic and played on a WPIAL championship team in 1992-93.
“I started going to the catholic school in Brownsville in seventh grade,” Davis Teslovich offered. “So it was a transition, seventh grade, eighth grade and ninth grade at Geibel.”
Davis Teslovich decided to transfer back to Brownsville for her sophomore season in 1993-94.
“After the 93-94 season I just wasn’t happy at Geibel, not basketball, but other things,” Davis Teslovich reported. “I would get up and it was still dark and catch a bus and have to stay at Geibel for the duration of mainly boys basketball practice before the girls got to practice and then I would come home at night. I never adjusted to that. That was a lot and I had a hard time with it.
“I made my decision in July or August to transfer to Brownsville. It was tough to leave my teammates at Geibel. But I didn’t get to see my Brownsville friends and I made the decision that I had to be happy.”
She enjoyed her time basketball-wise at Geibel.
“I started every game during the 92-93 season before transferring to Brownsville,” Davis Teslovich said. “I had a great relationship with Coach George Bortz, I loved playing for him.”
Leaving Geibel was difficult for Davis Teslovich. Geibel was a WPIAL power while Brownsville had struggled mightily.
“When I came back to Brownsville my friends had played with me and we were teammates in the Biddy League,” Davis Teslovich said. “We were all teammates at the Uniontown YMCA League and we had been playing together since sixth, seventh and eighth grade. So I ended up playing with them again at Brownsville.”
Things got off to a rocky start at Brownsville.
“My sophomore year at Brownsville was not a good year,” Davis Teslovich recalled. “We did not make the playoffs. Brownsville was horrible at that point. They hadn’t won in years and I became part of the turnaround. The group of girls that were my teammates before had been preparing for high school together and we were focused and we were basketball players and we wanted to win. I was happy to be with that group that I had grown up with.”
Davis Teslovich along with Nina Turcic, April Miller and Shelbey Wardman, helped spark a tremendous turnaround in Brownsville girls hoops. In 1994-95 they posted the most wins in school history, finishing 24-3 with a WPIAL playoff win over West Mifflin, 61-48, before losing to Seton LaSalle 66-63.
“I was injured my junior year,” Davis Teslovich reported. “I tore my ACL and did not know it yet against East Allegheny and I was evaluated. They thought that it was just a severe strain and I played a couple of games, against West Mifflin. I’d tape up and wear a brace and play, but not well and then against Seton LaSalle at that point my knee was completely unstable. I played in that game, but I was not myself.
“We made the state playoffs and lost first round. I didn’t play in the PIAA playoffs. At that point my knee was torn. I ended up having an operation on my ACL in March of 1995 and that was a problem because at the time especially for women you needed a year’s recovery for that surgery. My parents searched and found Dr. Freddy Fu so I could go back on the court. He started a type of surgery using your hamstring that was less invasive and would heal quicker.”
Davis Teslovich helped lead Brownsville to a 22-7 record in 1995-96. They notched two WPIAL playoff wins before losing in the semifinals to Blackhawk 69-48. They were beaten by Lewistown in the PIAA tournament, 74-45.
The senior campaign was a difficult season for Davis Teslovich.
“It was horrible,” Davis Teslovich stated. “It was a great season all in all, but personally it was tough. My knee wasn’t ready and I gutted my way through it. What ended up happening was my knee never recovers. That stunted my college career. I never fully recovered.”
Davis Teslovic was named to the Pittsburgh South All Stars and the Post-Gazette Washington Fab 5.
“I got some honors,” Davis Teslovich said. “What really got me out of my funk after surgery, I was picked for the Finest 15 and was pretty cool.”
Davis Teslovich scored 1,226 points at Brownsville. Adding in her points at Geibel she had 1,494 career points.
“I can’t say enough about my Brownsville Coach Bernie Bernandowski or Coach Bortz,” Davis Teslovich offered. “I tell people that I was very blessed to have been coached by some really remarkable men.”
Davis Teslovich played college ball at Saint Francis, Pa., and Wheeling, but had to give up basketball.
“The knee wasn’t good and I couldn’t overcome it,” Davis Teslovich lamented. “That was a lot for a young girl and my whole life revolved around basketball and it was tough to have it end that way. It was bittersweet the way my career ended.”
Davis Teslovich graduated from Cal U and Duquesne Law School. She worked in the DA’s office in Fayette County and started her own practice with her husband Brian specializing in Oil and Gas law.
Now residing in Rostraver Township, Davis Teslovich and her husband Brian have been married for 24 years and have three children, Hannah, 21, Eli, 18, and Elizabeth 13.
Davis Teslovich takes great pride in son Eli’s basketball exploits at Shady Side Academy. A senior, Eli is one of the top guards in the WPIAL and has scored over 1,000 career points.
“I am so proud of my son Eli,” Davis Teslovich beamed. “I will tell you one thing about Eli, there is nobody that will outwork him. I’m just very proud of him.”
She is also very proud of what she accomplished on the hardwood.
“I have no regrets,” Davis Teslovich stated. “I would tear this ACL a hundred times if I had to just to have the experiences and opportunities that I had.”
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Sunday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.