NCAA
Compton Long Beach Poly

Long Beach Poly, Compton, Millikan Athletes Preparing For NCAA Tourney

A pair of Compton boys’ basketball players, a trio of Long Beach Poly girls’ basketball players, and a Millikan Ram are preparing for NCAA Tournament appearances.

Compton alums Kyron Cartwright and Robert Lewis will be in action in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament playing for Providence and Texas Southern.

Cartwright joined the 1,000-point club with the Friars this year as part of a senior season that saw him average 11.9 points per game on 42.8% shooting. He was also one of the top point guards in the nation with 187 assists, bringing him to 637 in his career.

Cartwright and Providence earned a 10 seed and will play 7 seed Texas A&M at 9:15 a.m. Friday on CBS.

Lewis and Texas Southern actually won a First Four game on Wednesday evening against NCCU, 64-46, with Lewis grabbing two rebounds. The Compton alum is a redshirt junior averaging 5.6 points per game.

Lewis and Texas Southern, a 16 seed, will play 1 seed Xavier on Friday at 4:20 p.m. on TBS.

In the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, Long Beach Poly alums Arica Carter, Lajahna Drummer, and Eliza Matthews will all be in action this week.

Carter has been a key player for No. 4 Louisville, one of the teams with a legitimate shot at the NCAA championship. Carter, a redshirt junior, has started all 33 games for Louisville and averages eight points a game alongside a team-best four assists per game.

Carter and Louisville earned the top seed in the Lexington Region and will face 16 seed Boise State on Friday morning at 9 a.m.

Drummer is also a redshirt junior and started 30 of 31 games for the Bruins this year, while averaging seven points and eight rebounds per game.

Drummer’s UCLA is a 3 seed in the Kansas City Region and will face 14 seed American on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN 2.

Matthews won Big West Freshman of the Year honors for CSU Northridge last year and helped lead the Matadors to a conference tournament championship this year. Matthews and 16 seed CSUN will face top-seed Notre Dame on Friday at 2 p.m. on ESPN 2.

Millikan alum Madeline Dopplick started 25 of 32 games for Seattle U, averaging 7 points per game. Seattle U won their first-ever WAC championship to advance to the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament this year. Dopplick and the 15 seeded Redhawks will travel to 2 seed Oregon for a game on Friday at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2.

Mike Guardabascio
An LBC native, Mike Guardabascio has been covering Long Beach sports professionally for 13 years, with his work published in dozens of Southern California magazines and newspapers. He's won numerous awards for his writing as well as the CIF Southern Section’s Champion For Character Award, and is the author of three books about Long Beach history.
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