Tear-stung eyes marked the expressions of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School boys basketball team as they gathered at half court of the Al Coccoluto Gym at the War Memorial Recreation Center.
The pain of a season ended too soon — and in heartbreaking fashion — showed minutes after the final buzzer sounded in a 66-63 overtime loss to Marshfield Friday night. As coach Geo Rodriguez consoled senior guard Imam Firmin, who wrapped his head in his home white jersey, Marshfield’s top player laid respect on the team his team just upset.
“They brought a good level of physicality,” said Marshfield senior guard Noah Feldman, who poured in a game-high 25 points. “Shoutout to them. They’re a gritty team. They didn’t give up down the stretch.”
One team came into the game scuffling, the other made the trip up from the South Shore scorching. The host No. 15 Falcons (14-7) had dropped four of six to close the regular season, while the No. 18 Rams (19-3) extended their winning streak to 14 games. Marshfield advanced to play No. 2 Andover in the Round of 16.
“We took away their perimeter game,” Marshfield coach Bob Fisher said. “Their inside game hurt us, but I thought we did a great job.”
Cambridge has lost in the Round of 32 three of the last four years, winning in 2024.
Senior forward Aaron Abebe led Cambridge with 16 points. Firmin added 13 points and junior forward Levi Daniels-Prempeh had 10.
For Marshfield, senior guard Dan Padden and junior forward Luke Richardson joined Feldman in double-figure scoring with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Results aside, the playoff atmosphere showed. Spectators packed every seat and went four rows deep in all four corners of the gym.
The intimate setting — fans sitting directly behind benches — created endless banter. Feldman called the atmosphere “crazy.”
“It was so fun to play here,” he said. “I loved it.
Cambridge emerged with a one-point lead after a nip-and-tuck first quarter, but the Rams responded with a 14-2 run to open the second frame to build a double-digit advantage. Feldman scored 15 of his points in the second quarter, including going 9-9 from the free-throw line.
A 700-win coach, Fisher knew not to discount the Falcons in the second half.
“We knew we had to weather a storm in the third period,” Fisher said. “We were hoping the storm wouldn’t be as bad as it was. It was a hurricane instead of a storm, like the blizzard we had on the South Shore.”
Cambridge got as close as six in the third quarter. Back-to-back Abebe buckets, a 3-pointer in front of the student section and a layup, cut the deficit to just one early in the fourth.
A Daniels-Prempeh free throw with just under two minutes to play tied it, and the Falcons took their first lead since the opening moments of the second quarter on a pair of free throws from senior forward Jaydaan Correia. Marshfield tied it on the next possession to force overtime.
The Falcons took a one-point lead midway through overtime, but Feldman and company made timely free-throws and got the stops they needed to emerge.
“They had some great defense,” he said. “We knew they were going to play chippy. We knew we had to fight through contact. Got in a little foul trouble myself but worked through it and got it done down the stretch.”
A stronger
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