However, Loffler felt the heat played little part in the result. He believed Boys' High benefited from being able to set a good total and apply scoreboard pressure.
The game's highlight came in the OBR innings, when Boys' High fielder Justin Turner broke the opening partnership with a catch for the ages.
Cody Andrews had established himself at the crease and was starting to open up when he smashed the ball legside and in the air. Turner was standing in the inner circle, and it looked as if the ball would blaze past him as he made a diving attempt to stop the shot from racing to the boundary.
To everyone's surprise, the right-handed Turner reached out at full stretch with his left hand to pull in a diving catch that had spectators on their feet applauding and teammates sprinting in from all over the park to congratulate him.
The momentum from that point was clearly in the school side's favour. They methodically worked their way through the OBR batting line-up to set up an almost impossible run chase for the OBR tailenders.
Standout performances from South African adult players Graham Sharp (73) and Nicholas Hendrie (57 not out) steered Boys' High to a competitive total.
Sharp continued the form he showed in scoring centuries in back-to-back games last weekend before he was eventually bowled by Sam Patterson when he missed his shot looking to hit the ball over the head of long-on.
He ended the two-week competition with an average of 305, having lost his wicket only once in three games.
Loffler said OBR knew that if Sharp and Hendrie were not dismissed early, they would go on to score runs and put OBR under pressure.
“Obviously, Nick (Hendrie) made a big difference, being semi-professional . . . full credit to the way he and Graham (Sharp) batted. They were the difference.”
He said the game went to plan for OBR, but they couldn't make key moments stick and they let Boys' High get 15 runs too many.
The day had a festive atmosphere. Music was played over the loudspeaker between overs, and changes in bowling and batting were announced by Poverty Bay Cricket Association chairman and newly elected district councillor Isaac Hughes, with a dash of lighthearted sledging.
As Sharp and Hendrie piled on the runs, the South African national anthem was played.
Their partnership of 38 meant Boys' High were well-positioned to be aggressive at the death, and they capitalised, scoring 42 runs off their last four overs to set a slightly “above-par” score.
Trowell said he was pleased with his team's performance with both bat and ball.
“We didn't drop a chance,” he said.
“There were a couple of misfields and early nerves, but when we got 160 on the board I thought it would be pretty tough to chase.
“The boys bowled to the plan, and Nathan Trowell did well with the field placements.
“He did a good job marshalling the troops, and he's grown into the role. It bodes well for the future.
“I have to give credit to the older boys (Sharp and Hendrie). Their mentoring of the young lads has been awesome.”
The game was played on the representative ground, with its big outfield. A lot of balls that would normally reach the boundary were chased down by deep fielders, and Boys' High had set up an exciting run chase.
OBR looked to Craig Christophers at the top of the order to set the foundation for their innings, and he performed his task admirably, scoring 53. But he was unable to find a batting partner as the team lost a steady stream of wickets.
A first-wicket partnership of 44 between Christophers and Andrews (18) put OBR in control of the early part of their innings, but Boys' High clawed their way back into the game.
Boys' High didn't make it easy for themselves, though. They gave up 22 extras and myriad overthrows that kept OBR's run-rate ticking over.
But the students made their opportunities count on a wicket that appeared to favour the batsmen.
Matthew Foster's four-wicket haul was a highlight of the Boys' High bowling effort, and the team took six catches to have OBR against the ropes.
Christophers kept his team in the game but was bowled as he looked to reverse-sweep a ball from spinner Daniel Stewart in the 16th over, as the required run rate and pressure started to build.
It was the beginning of the end as the OBR run-rate slowed. The Boys' High field placements allowed for ones and twos, but OBR needed to hit the ball to the boundary to keep themselves in the game.
OBR needed more than eight runs an over, but only three of their batsmen had a strike rate over 100 as they struggled to find their feet in the fourth innings of the day on the rep wicket.
