Last year at this time the 5A-I girls basketball chase was wide open. Eight perhaps as many as 10 teams with a legitimate shot to walk away with the title.

As tight as it was last year, the winner this year looks as if it's down to a one-team race with two or three others having a sliver of hope.

St. Mary's, which lost the championship game last year on a last-second shot to Dobson, is not only beating Arizona opponents to date. The Knights are trampling them.

St. Mary's has already rocked Highland and Chandler, two of the better teams in 5A-I. The Knights beat Highland by 34 in December and flattened Chandler by 23 on Tuesday.

In the next 10 days St. Mary's faces Xavier and Hamilton. If neither of them challenges the Knights the only other team playing well enough with any shot later on is Mesa Mountain View. St. Mary's and Mountain View do not meet in the regular season.

St. Mary's timing is perfect. The Knights return every key player from last season, are at least 10 deep and have a solid perimeter game to go with their defense that creates most of its scoring chances.

Some of the top contenders last year -- Dobson, Gilbert and Mesquite -- were hit hard by graduation and rare ebuilding. Hamilton, Mountain View, Highland, Chandler and Xavier have more experience back than the aforementioned three, but not nearly enough to go toe to toe with St. Mary's.

Like 5A-I football and Hamilton's dominance, the only mystery come 5A-I championship day is who advances to the final for the honor of losing to the Knights. It's that open and shut.