The winter season in the CIFLACS is wrapping up, and playoff time is upon us. It has been an action-packed season on the girls’ basketball side, and there are bound to be many twists and turns before we find out who will emerge as the six teams that will call themselves champions at the end of February. Here are five big questions heading into the  tournament as first-round action gets underway tonight:

Is a Birmingham-Westchester final a foregone conclusion in the Open Division?

Absolutely not. If you are a fan of prep hoops and have been following the City Section all season, these two squads have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. And I think we all can agree that Kamora Coleman facing off against her old squad for the top title is intriguing. But there is a reason this division is the Open, and the other six teams here are fully capable of winning it all themselves. In fact, both Birmingham (vs. Palisades) and Westchester (vs. King/Drew) face opponents in the first round who were Open Division participants last season and have plenty of returning firepower to pull the upset if they are not on top of their game.

Is it the Valley or the field holding D-I hardware at the end of the month?

The homer in me wants to say that a Valley school is automatically taking it all, but there is stiff competition throughout this bracket. Elco deserves the top seed, and I expect them to make it to the championship. But Eagle Rock and San Pedro will be tough outs in this bracket, to say the least. Keep an eye on Verdugo and Arleta in this field. Both teams are undersized, but feature veteran backcourts that can get hot and shoot you out of the gym. That All-Valley matchup between Chatsworth and Kennedy has the potential to be one of the more intriguing games of the day.

Is North Hollywood the favorite to win it all in Division II?

I have watched this team quite a bit this season, and there is a lot to like about where they sit and the potential matchups they may face in the postseason. The Huskies struggled against the top teams in the East Valley, but showed marked improvement by the time the regular season wrapped up. I would not be surprised if North Hollywood found themselves lifting hardware.

What are the chances for San Fernando or Poly making a deep run in D-III?

I know I sound like there is bias here, but I do like both teams’ chances to make deep runs here. San Fernando’s path is probably the more perilous one, with a tough opening round against a fellow Valley opponent in SOCES, and if they win, they will more than likely have to contend with an undefeated league champion in the quarterfinals. Poly has a first-round opponent I expect them to be able to handle, and then they would face off against Van Nuys or Marshall in the next round. This is not easy, but I think the Parrots have enough to get through it to the semifinals if they play up to their potential.

Which Valley school has the best opportunity to win a title in D-IV or D-V?

Once you get past D-III in any CIFLACS playoff in just about every sport, it becomes the Wild West. It is so hard to predict winners coming out of these brackets, but there are a few Valley teams you may want to keep an eye on in this field. Panorama sticks out to me in D-IV. It is always a smart bet when you see battle-tested teams from the big Valley leagues slotted in these divisions. In D-V, watch out for Vaughn. They have as good a shot as anyone to run the gauntlet and hoist a title.