Playoff Roadmap: OIA White primer


The OIA White playoffs are just a week away and the four teams in the postseason and the top seed are already set. All that is left to determine is where the other teams sit in the four-team bracket.

The current playoff picture heading into the weekend:

Kaiser Cougars (8-0) Radford Rams (6-1) Kalani Falcons (5-2) Pearl City Chargers (5-2)

With Kalaheo forfeiting their game against Kaiser this weekend, the Cougars will finish the regular season without a blemish and will host a playoff game in the White semifinals.  They will face the fourth seed, which is still left to be determined.

Even though they hold identical season records, Kalani has the edge over Pearl City because the Falcons defeated the Chargers when the two teams met in Pearl City’s White opener.  A Kalani win and a Pearl City loss this week will ensure that the Falcons will not face up with the number one seed Kaiser.

The big game this weekend that affects the standings is when the Chargers visit the Rams this Friday.  Radford can claim the second seed and home-field advantage in the semis with a win, but could fall to fourth and face Kaiser with a loss.

If the Rams lose to Pearl City and Kalani defeats Waialua, there will be a three-way tie for second place in the division.  In this scenario, the three teams would have gone 1-1 against each other forcing a coin flip or a card draw to determine the seeding.  Each team loss to Kaiser and beat the other five teams in the division so there is no other way to break the tie-breaker, except by Lady Luck.  If this scenario actually came into fruition, any of the three teams could host a semifinal game.

Looking at the regular season panned out, all of the three teams would want to avoid Kaiser in the semifinals.  The Cougars have been rolling through the White division and will have a pseudo-bye heading into the playoffs with their game against Kalaheo not needing to be played. 

The two teams that meet in the White Championship will also represent the league in the state tournament.

 



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].