The road to the Division I girls basketball title travels through two-time defending champ St. Mary's. The path to the boys D-I championship would drive map quest bonkers.

The D-I girls tournament begins this week with two of five rounds -- Wednesday Feb. 13 with pig-tail contests and Friday Feb. 15 the round of 16. The guys get their chance Thursday Feb. 14 (first round) and Saturday Feb. 16 (round of 16).  The tournaments conclude the following week with girls quarterfinals Feb. 18 at Wells Fargo Arena, semifinals Feb. 21 (Wells Fargo) and the championship Feb. 23 at Jobing.com Arena. The boys play quarterfinals Feb. 19 at Wells Fargo, semifinals Feb. 21 at Wells Fargo and title game Feb. 23 at Jobing.com.

Here's the schedules for the first two rounds of each tournament along with an outlook:

DIVISION I GIRLS

WEDNESDAY FEB. 13: First round (all games at 7 p.m.) -- No. 17 North at No. 16 Desert Vista; No. 24 Chaparal at No. 9 Buena; No. 21 Cibola at No. 12 Marana Mtn. View; No. 20 Boulder Creek at No. 13 Xavier Prep; No. 19 Mesa Mtn. View at No. 14 Tucson High; No. 22 Valley Vista at No. 11 Millennium; No. 23 Cienega at No. 10 Tolleson; No. 18 Marcos de Niza at No. 15 Mesquite. FRIDAY FEB. 15 Round of 16 (all games at 7 p.m.) -- North-Desert Vista winner at No. 1 St. Mary's; Chaparral-Buena winner at No. 8 Chandler; Cibola-Marana Mtn. View winner at No. 5 Hamilton; Boulder Creek-Xavier winner at No. 4 Westview; Mesa Mtn. View-Tucson winner at No. 3 Pinnacle; Valley Vista-Millennium winner at No. 6 Dobson; Cienega-Tolleson winner at No. 7 Mountain Pointe; Marcos de Niza-Mesquite winner at No. 2 Highland.

OUTLOOK: The top seeds 1-8 are who they should be (St. Mary's, Highland, Pinnacle, Westview, Hamilton, Dobson, Mountain Pointe and Chandler) with the one exception being perhaps Desert Vista. Barring one "upset" these eight should be playing in the quarterfinals. St. Mary's (25-1) has defeated every Arizona opponent its played this season by 18 points or more. That includes, Pinnacle, Westview, Hamilton and Chandler. Highland (30-2) has faced eight of the top 16 teams and sports a 10-1 record in thoes games. The Hawks, however, haven't faced St. Mary's, Pinnacle or Westview. Highland is also good in close games (6-0) in games decided by five points or less. Pinnacle (28-2) has been rock solid all season losing only to St. Mary's and Winward, Calif. in the NIke TOC. The Pioneers have arguably the best player in the state in four-year starter Sydney Wiese and a good supporting cast. No. 4 Westview (32-1) lost for the first time last Saturday (decisively) to St. Mary's in the section final. Westview hasn't played the number of quality teams most of the other top eight have and that could be a factor when the quarters arrive. Westview has played only two teams in the top 16 -- No. 10 Tolleson and No. 11 Millennium. It was 5-0 in those games

No. 5 Hamilton (23-5) has some quality wins over top teams (Dobson, Chandler, Mountain Pointe) and some bad losses to the same (Highland and St. Mary's). Hamilton needs Aliyah Dickson and Kyndall Adams to be clicking every night to be a factor. No. 6 Dobson (21-6) also has a mixed bag of results with contenders. Dobson can be dangerous if it has its shooting touch with Tori Lloyd, Miyah Leith and can keep ultra-athlete and leader Katherine Hamilton out of foul trouble. Dobson's losses are to three California schools in the Nike TOC and La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 tournaments, two tight games to Highland and one to Hamilton .No. 7  Mountain Pointe (25-5) played nine of the 23 teams in the tournament field with a 9-3 record in those games .Mountain Pointe, led by Kayah Lupoe and Caitlyn Hetrick, also won four of five games decided by six points or less. No. 8 Chandler (17-9)  is the Jekyl and Hyde of the top eight. The Lady Wolves had the best strength of schedule of any team, playing 14 of their 26 games against teams in the top 16 in the state bracket. The Wolves were 6-8 in those games. Chandler is best in a wide-open, up-tempo game. Half-court play is not to their advantage. As for the rest of the field, Desert Vista at No. 16 might have had a chance to go deep in the tournament. If it does, it must beat St. Mary's in the round of 16. The Boulder Creek-Xavier winner might be able to push Westview, coming of its first and only loss of the season.

Quarterfinal prediction: St. Mary's vs. Chandler; Hamilton vs. Westview; Pinnacle vs. Dobson; Mountain Pointe vs. Highland.

DIVISION I BOYS

THURSDAY FEB. 14: First round (all games at 7 p.m.) -- No. 17 Red Mountain at No. 16 Mountain Pointe; No. 24 Sunnyside at No. .9 Brophy Prep; No. 21 Buena at No. 12 Deer Valley; No. 20 Highland at No. 13Dobson; No. 19 Cienega at No. 14 Westivew; No. 22 Desert Vista at No. 11 Gilbert; No. 23 Mountain Ridge at No. 10 Mesa Mtn. View; No. 18 Ironwood at No. 15 Marcos de Niza. SATURDAY  FEB. 15 Round of 16 (all games at 7 p.m.) -- Red Mountain-Mtn. Pointe winner at No. 1 Corona del Sol; Sunnyside-Brophy winner at No. 8 Millennium; Buena-Deer Valley winner at No. 5 Desert Mountain; Highland-Dobson winner at No. 4 Mesa; Cienega-Westview winner at No. 3 Pinnacle; Desert Vista-Gilbert winner at No. 6 Chaparal; Mountain Ridge-Mesa Mtn. View winner at No. 7 Hamilton; Ironwood-Marcos de Niza winner at No. 2 Cesar Chavez.

OUTLOOK:  As many as 13 teams are good enough to be slotted 1-8 this year. Most of the ones who are 1-8 (Corona del Sol, Cesar Chavez, Pinnacle, Mesa, Desert Mountain, Chaparral, Hamilton and Millennium) don't have cake-walks to the quarters. No. 1 Corona del Sol (25-3) has standout guard Casey Benson back healthy after nursing a bad ankle for about 10 days. a stretch where the Aztecs lost two of its four games to Hamilton and Dobson. The Aztecs have replaced three starters from last season remarkably well, as Adam Gleave, Cassius Peat and Braden Tennyson have stepped up to join Benson and Bryan Siefker to help defend last year's state title. Corona's defense has been outstanding all season and is its forte. Corona will get a tough game in the round of 16 from either No. 17 Red Mountain or No. 16 Mountain Pointe. Mountain Pointe sports a 13-12 record, but has beaten the likes of Mesa, Brophy and Hamilton in recent weeks. Red Mountain (17-10) plays nearly every opponent tight to the finish and has wins over Hamilton Gilbert and Dobson. Fourteen of its 27 games have been decided by seven points or less. No. 2 Cesar Chavez  (27-2)  received a wake-up call losing its regular-season finale to D-II's Catalina Foothills. The Champions followed that by drubbing three opponents to win its sectional. Junior forward Pablo Rivas is the mainstay for Chavez, one of the reasons it reached the title game and finished runner-up last season. Several seniors have stepped up this season to help keep the Champions formidable. The addition of Efer Herrera (transfer from Mexico) hasn't hurt, either. Chavez recorded early-season wins over top-8 Desert Mountain and Chaparral. No. 3 Pinnacle (23-6) is the hottest team in the tournament with 13 straight wins. The Pioneers took care of Mountain Pointe, Mesa and Desert Mountain to win its sectional. Pinnacle, led by Dorian Pickens, Drew Bender and Trey Ingram is as healthy as it's  been all season. Bender is about 90 percent (ankle) and Lee Andari also seems to be over some leg issues. The return to full strength of Will Donavon the last few weeks after a broken hand (summer), mono (fall) and ankle-foot sprain in November-December has made the Pioneers perhaps the team to beat. No. 4 Mesa (24-5) is tough to defend since all its starters can score. The Jackrabbits starting five average between eight and 14 points a game. Having the 6-foot-9 Isaac Allen in the middle makes it tough for foes to get much done inside.

No. 5 Desert Mountain (23-5) has taken care of nearly everyone except Pinnacle, which has dealt the Wolves three of their losses. The other two were to Chaparal and Chavez. All three are on the opposite end of the bracket. Led by point guard Rolando Rhymes, who can shoot, penetrate and create perimeter shots that the Wolves thrive on, this is a team that can go the distance. No. 6 Chaparral (22-6) has two wins over Pinnacle and one over Desert Mountain. Losses have come twice to Brophy and once to Mesa Mountain View. The Firebirds have size (Eric Conklin and Joe Boyd when healthy) and a sharp=shooter from the perimeter in Troy Conley. They'll get a a tough game from either Gilbert or Desert Vista in the round of 16. Gilbert needs a return to action of point guard Anthony Bryant, who has been out a week with a concussion. Gilbert is scrappy, and gets scoring punch from Conner Helvig and Truman Moore. Desert Vista (14-13) is up and down, but has offensive threats in Avery Brunson and Greg Carter. No. 7 Hamilton (21-7) isn't a prolific scoring team, but plays good defense and gives everyone a tough game. The Huskies record is proof of that. Hamilton is battle-tested with wins over Corona del Sol, Mesa, Red Mountain and Highland and losses to Corona, Mountain Pointe, Gilbert and Desert Mountain. Hamilton's top player, James Sosinski, went down with an ankle sprain in the section final against Corona. Coach Kevin Hartwig hopes Sosinksi will be ready come Saturday. Hamilton bought itself a couple extra days off by moving into the top eight with a strong sectional. No. 10 Mesa Mountain View has played much better in January and is led by 6-9 junior post Payton Dastrup. The Toros need perimeter-scoring help to complement Dastrup and often look to Brian Butler for that. No. 8  Millennium (23-5) has quality losses, but not a lot of quality wins. It's beaten No. 14 Westview three times but noone else of consequence. Brophy is Millennium's likely foe in the round of 16 and from there on it's going to be a challenge. Millennium got a taste of that in the section final -- a 20-point loss to Cesar Chavez.  

Quarterfinal prediction: Corona del Sol vs. Brophy, Desert Mountain vs. Mesa, Pinnacle vs. Gilbert, Hamilton vs. Cesar Chavez