From Canada, with love. Lusemo Macharia’s hot play lands Independence atop its conference
With two state championships in the last 28 years and six conference titles in the previous 11 seasons, Independence High School’s basketball program has a strong reputation among those who follow the sport.
So much so that its reach has become international the last two years with 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Lusemo Macharia.
A Canadian who grew up playing soccer and basketball, Macharia and his family chose the Patriots’ program after meeting with Independence head coach Preston Davis and his coaching staff.
“It was a good program,” Macharia said. “We talked to the coaches and we love it here.”
With Macharia coming off the bench a year ago, the Patriots went 20-9 and advanced to the third round of the N.C. 4A playoffs.
Entering Friday’s Southwestern 4A Conference game at Butler, Macharia is a starter and one of the leaders of Independence’s 14-2 team that is 5-0 in league play.
“He’s very coachable,” said Davis, the 16th-year Patriots head coach who played (1997) and coached (2018) on each of Independence’s basketball state title teams. “I’m very intense with all of my guys and he listens to the message and works his butt off to be better.
“He has a drive to be better — and it’s showing. Even as a sophomore, he’s well beyond his years.”
This season, Macharia is averaging 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.1 steals for a balanced Patriots team that also features junior Jaxson Neely (11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds), senior Jason Waritay (7.9 points, 2.8 rebounds), senior Nick Barnes (7.4 points), junior Omarion Burgess (7.3 points, 2.1 assists), senior Kaleb Jasper (6.4 points, 4.9 assists) and junior Dylan McFarland (6.1 points).
“We’re doing well right now and it’s really important, especially in the conference,” Macharia said. “We strive to play defense since our emphasis is always defense.”
Macharia averaged 2.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks a season ago.
“Last year I learned a lot playing behind Tosh Alberga, especially defensively,” Macharia said of Alberga, who is now a freshman forward at Cleveland Community College in Shelby. “I improved more over the summer and spent a lot of time working on my jump shot.”
Davis says Macharia’s skill set is unique enough that he can’t think of a comparable player.
“I don’t know if he necessarily reminds me of anybody,” Davis said. “He’s kind of carved his own way.
“We have high expectations and we hold him to that. He’s still pushing because he wants to be great. His upside is really high and he’s definitely a college-level player and we’re pushing him to reach that goal.”
