John Paul College cricketers enjoy dominant Western Bay campaign

The John Paul College Year 9/10 cricket team get in the zone ahead of a match. Photo / Supplied

It is one thing to have the skills to excel at a sport, but having the mental strength to perform when results are most crucial is what takes a team to the next level.

The John Paul College Years 9/10 cricket team appear well equipped for success after their Western Bay of Plenty competition came down to a must-win game against the only other unbeaten side Tauranga Boys' College White.

Tauranga Boys' batted first and posted a respectable 175/5 in their 40 overs.

"Our boys were asleep early in the field and they accumulated runs at ease," JPC coach Crispian Stewart said.

"It was only Cohen's [Stewart] angry spell of eight overs (two wickets for 23 runs) at the back end of the innings to ensure the total did not get out of hand.

"Having runs on the board in a final is gold. It seemed our boys were oblivious to the situation and went about the chase with seemingly no pressure at all to dominate proceedings led by Jayden Meyer (50 not out) and Viren Patel (53)."

The chase was complete with six overs and seven wickets to spare, thanks to a 90-run third wicket partnership between the two half century makers.

JPC won four games leading up to the winner-takes-all encounter with Tauranga Boys'.

In week one they chased down 121 runs against Otumoetai Cadets, with three wickets and five overs to spare.

In week two they batted first against local rivals Geyser Western Heights High School and posted a formidable total of 223/7, thanks largely to an impressive 93 not out by Cohen Stewart.

They then produced a quality team bowling performance to have Geyser WHHS all out for 119.

In their third game they had Tauranga Boys' Blue all out for 107, which they chased down 37 overs for the loss of six wickets.

In the next game they had Trident High School all out for 99 runs. They chased that down in just 17 overs with Viren Patel scoring 50 not out.

Stewart said the team's statistics for the season showed good all round team performances, rather than one or two players dominating with bat or ball, and they looked forward to being the team to beat in the New Year.

The cricket-mad Stewart family

It has been a stellar year of cricket for the Stewart family.

Crispian's 13-year-old son Cohen spent three months playing for the Parley Cricket Club in England, after being selected for the first international junior cricket scholarship the club had offered.

Crispian was the same club's first overseas player in the (English) 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Cohen recently received a trophy in the mail, having been named Parley's Junior Cricketer of the Year. He was also John Paul College's Cricketer of the Year.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone by her older bother, Crispian's daughter Sadie was named Cricketer of the Year at Lynmore Primary School - becoming the first girl to win the award.

Her name sits a few rows below Cohen's on the trophy, as he won it in 2015.