Kalaheo has been awarded the Eastern Division's No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Oahu Interscholastic Association football playoffs, via a coin toss yesterday to break a three-way tie with Castle and Kailua.

The three teams each finished with a 3-3 record in the East, and each was 1-1 against each other (the first tie-breaker).

Castle is the No. 4 seed by virtue of its head-to-head victory over Kailua, which is No. 5.

Castle (3-5 overall) will open playoff action at 7:30 p.m. Friday against West No. 5 Leilehua (4-4, 3-3) at Mililani's John Kauinana Stadium.

Kailua (3-5 overall) will travel to West No. 4 Kapolei (5-3, 3-3) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Both games will be televised live statewide on OC-16.

As the higher seed, Castle would otherwise enjoy home field advantage, but the game will instead be played at a neutral site to accommodate the TV broadcast.

According to OC-16 executive sports director Dave Vinton, the cable station's contract with the OIA — now in its 19th season — includes broadcast rights for the league's playoffs. But, he said, OC-16 sometimes has budget and technological limitations that determine sites from which it can broadcast.

Broadcasting a game from Castle, Vinton said, would require OC-16 to use a satellite feed which adds substantial cost to the production. By contrast, Kauinana Stadium is equipped with fiber optic capability which makes the broadcast possible at a fraction of the cost of satellite.

"In an ideal world, our checkbook would have unlimited resources and we would have no constraints," Vinton said. "But the reality is, we have to make this work financially. I feel for Castle and I wish we could do it from there, but right now it just won't work out."

Vinton added that OC-16 has committed to televising the upcoming football state tournament.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.