Players to watch in the IWN Gary Raya Classic

There are a number of players to watch in the 30th annual Irvine World News Gary Raya Boys Basketball Classic presented by OC Varsity beginning Monday at El Dorado, University and Woodbridge highs.

Twelve teams are in the tournament which will have pool play on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Among the teams are two of the county's top 10 teams, No. 6 Edison (5-0) and No. 7 El Toro (5-1).

The semifinals are Friday, Dec. 16 with the finals on Saturday, Dec. 17 at El Dorado.

The championship is Dec. 17 at 6 p.m.

Edison, the two-time defending champion, is led by senior guard Dreon Barlett, an all-tournament player last year. Barlett was MVP of the La Quinta Tournament last week.

(FOR A LOOK AT SOME OF THE OTHER TOP PLAYERS IN THE TOURNAMENT, PLEASE CLICK ON THE PHOTO)

El Toro, Tesoro and Woodbridge are among the teams hoping to knock off the Chargers this year.

Pool play begins on Monday with games at University and Woodbridge.

On Monday, Crean Lutheran will meet North Torrance at 5:30 p.m. at University. At Woodbridge, Lakewood faces Edison at 5:30 p.m. and Marina meets Esperanza at 7 p.m.

On Tuesday, Crean Lutheran will face University at 5:30 p.m. at University, Woodbridge will host Marina at 7 p.m. and El Dorado will host Cerritos.

On Wednesday, University will face North Torrance at 5:30 p.m. at University and Woodbridge will host Esperanza and El Dorado will host Tesoro.

For updates throughout the week, please go to ocvarsity.com, ocregister.com/Irvine or call the Irvine World News at (714) 796-7948.

The tournament is sponsored by OC Varsity, The Orange County Register, Wahoo's Fish Tacos and the Irvine Unified School District.