By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
Stephen Blish misses his brother DJ and his close friend Ryan Walp terribly.
But this rare young man, whose maturity and mental toughness belie his youth, realizes he must live in the moment and play the game of basketball for those who are still on the court with him.
Make no mistake, Blish honors and cherishes the memories of DJ, who died of an epileptic seizure last January, and teammate Ryan, who lost a battle with cancer recently. But he won’t let that overshadow his loyalty to the players he goes to war with each day.
”I actually talked to the guys about that last week,” the Monroe Township High senior guard said. “It’s all unfortunate, but we’re basically dedicating the season to ourselves, because we put in the 10 months of work.
”It stinks, what happened. We want to bring DJ and Ryan along for the ride, but we want to do it for ourselves. And we want to honor them by doing what they want us to do.”
The Falcons opened the season with a tough overtime loss at Lawrence Saturday, in which Blish led the way with 15 points. But optimism abounds at Monroe despite the players’ grief over just losing Walp.
As someone who had to endure such a loss on a much closer level, Blish is the one who can set the example of how to overcome.
”I hope they see that,” he said. “I try to be an example. If I’m going through practice and going through the motions real slow, it will be followed by everyone else. I never want to use (the tragedies) as an excuse to play bad one night or to be lazy. I hope that’s an example for them.”
Blish is an example in several ways. He takes honor courses and has been a standout in the classroom. He’s a leader on the court during games and practice, and has a shot at reaching the 1,000-point mark this season.
More importantly in Blish’s mind, he has a chance to have played in the most career wins in MTHS history.
With all that going for him, it should have come as no surprise when the senior was announced as the Falcons captain during pre-game introductions at Lawrence.
But the honoree was somewhat taken aback.
”That was sort of a shock,” Blish said with a laugh. “I was like ‘Wow, that’s wild.’ I was the only one announced as captain, so I was shocked.”
Coach Bob Turco had no reservations.
”I have been coaching high school sports for over 17 years and I could use all the typical sport clichés to describe who he is,” said the fourth-year Falcon coach. “But he is more than a cliché to our basketball family.
”His inner strength, determination to succeed and ability to lead are characteristics that will help Stephen become successful no matter what he chooses to do in life. Those qualities are why he has been named captain.
”He has been a tremendous mentor for our younger players, especially the incoming freshmen. And throughout the season he will be our go-to player.”
And while Blish is being counted on to score, he’s not big on counting his points. When asked how many he had against Lawrence, he responded “I have no idea.”
He did, however, see the big picture.
”It was a tough game,” Blish said. “We came out pretty strong, the tempo got changed a little bit, they had some big guys, we made some mistakes. When we got into OT, they just took control. I don’t think we ran out of steam. We just missed some key shots, and that hurts.”
But the Falcons are confident they will turn things around this year, and Blish will be in the middle of it. He averaged just under 14 points as basically a perimeter shooter last year. After a strenuous off-season of lifting, he added 20 pounds of muscle and worked on penetrating more during several summer camps and summer league games.
”I got a little bit of a reputation and started getting face guarded,” he said. “If I’m not going to get a good outside look, I gotta get to the rack. I had to adjust to taking it to the basket stronger and try to work on getting to the middle of the floor.
”That can also benefit my teammates because if guys step up on me I can dump a pass down to them. My game is evolving not only me, but for them.”
Blish’s hard work will not only pay off this season, it could further his future as he has drawn the interest of Division II Felician College.
”Stephen has always been a very focused individual, but this year his drive and determination has been fueled by (the loss of DJ and Walp),” Turco said. “Stephen has decided, on his own, to honor both of these young men by carrying them with him in everything he achieves.
”He wants to make both of them proud of his accomplishments and I have no doubt he will do just that. Not just during his senior basketball season, but throughout his life as well.”
He has already left a lasting legacy in the MTHS gym.
”Stephen and I started this journey together four years ago and I will be sad when that final horn sounds and this stage of his life is complete,” Turco said. “But I will always be grateful for his help in building a respected program and the opportunity to watch him become a young man. I feel confident that no matter what the future holds for Stephen Blish he will continue to make me extremely proud.”
No doubt, countless friends and family members will share that pride.