CAMBRIDGE – The crowd was deafening. The pressure at its peak.
Noah Feldman answered the bell.
The senior forward (25 points) hit the game-tying layup at the end of regulation, then sealed things with a series of free throws in overtime as No. 18 Marshfield stunned No. 15 Cambridge Rindge and Latin on the road, 66-63, in the first round of the Div. 1 boys basketball tournament.
“To me and all the seniors, it means everything,” Feldman said. “I didn’t want to go out. No one wanted our season to end, and it felt great. Once we got to overtime, we knew it was our game. We got it done. So proud of the team, so proud of everyone.”
There was not a seat to be found at Al Coccoluto Gymnasium, as hundreds packed the historic facility. With the fans raging on, the programs exchanged punches in the opening frame as Marshfield (19-3) took a slim 17-16 lead entering the second quarter.
Then, the Rams caught fire from the field as Feldman banked in a contested layup as part of a 7-0 run. Marshfield closed the half by out-scoring Cambridge (14-7) at a 17-6 clip to construct a 36-25 advantage at intermission.
As the third quarter rolled along, the hometown Falcons attempted to chip away. Marshfield responded, as Dan Padden fed a pass to Brody Hession for a layup in the closing seconds of the stanza to make it a 48-40 contest entering the final frame.
Then Cambridge staged its rally. Seniors Aaron Abebe and Jaydaan Correia sank consecutive three-pointers as part of an 8-1 run for the Falcons, as they battled back to within one at 49-48 with 5:20 left in regulation. The gym simply got louder with each passing second.
Later on with 1:08 to play, Correia hit two more from the stripe to provide Cambridge its first lead since the opening quarter at 57-55.
Suddenly, it appeared Marshfield was about to see its playoff run come to a quick conclusion in heartbreaking fashion.
“We knew we had to weather a storm,” said Marshfield coach Bob Fisher. “We knew there was going to be a storm in the third period. We were hoping the storm wouldn’t be as bad as it was, but it was a hurricane instead of a storm. It was almost like the blizzard we had on the South Shore. … They didn’t blow us out, but they got back in the game.”
Yet, with 29.7 seconds remaining, the Rams were given a golden opportunity as the Falcons turned the ball over during an inbound attempt. With 11.7 seconds left, Hession found Feldman standing alone under the basket with an inbounds pass, and the senior hit the game-tying shot. The Rams came up strong defensively with a block on the opposite end, and the schools were bound for overtime, deadlocked at 57-all.
“We knew the environment we were coming into,” Feldman said. “A little exposure to it in the past, but not as much though. So, (Coach) just said: ‘Stay calm.’ Number one thing he said over and over again was to weather the storm. Get through it. We fought through adversity, and got it done.”
After Cambridge evened things again at 63-all in the extra session, Feldman hit one-of-two free throws to make it a 64-63 game for Marshfield. The Rams came up with another defensive stop, and the senior found himself back at the line with 12.4 ticks left. He hit both attempts, then celebrated with his teammates as a game-tying triple came up short for Cambridge on the other end as time expired.
Feldman finished 15-for-17 at the free throw stripe for Marshfield, while Padden (16 points) and Luke Richardson (13 points) added clutch buckets all night. Abebe finished with 17 points to pace Cambridge, while Imam Firmin added 15 points for the Falcons.
