MARSHFIELD — In his first game in over a month, Noah Feldman made the biggest shot of the night.

Feldman, who had missed the last four weeks with a fractured ankle, scored 13 points and hit a jumper to extend Marshfield’s lead to two possessions with 30 seconds left before the No. 14 Rams’ boys basketball team defeated No. 19 Xaverian, 50-47, in the opening round of the Division 1 State Tournament on Friday night.

While the packed house was not treated to an offensive masterpiece, it found itself witnessing a tight game throughout much of the second half. Xaverian, after being down 10 at the half, trimmed the deficit to two on three separate occasions but was never able to pull ahead.

“Noah just came back to practice and got the OK to play and he is just huge for us,” Marshfield coach Bob Fisher said. “He is so important to this team. Jake Brilliant is our best player, but Noah is our glue. He has a presence about him out there.”

Marshfield, ahead 32-23 two minutes into the third, saw its lead dissipate. Andrew Dean (11 points) hit a triple and had a put back around a 3-pointer from Thacher Purdy to cut the deficit to 35-33 late in the frame. Ahead by a mere two points Brilliant gave the Rams some breathing room going into the fourth, splashing a triple as the buzzer sounded to push the lead to 38-33.

The Hawks trailed by just one, 42-41, with four minutes to go but Rams guard Dan Padden drove baseline and finished through contact to up the lead to 45-41 with 3:50 left. At the other end of the floor, the Rams’ pressure defense held the Hawks without a field goal for three minutes as the clock dwindled under a minute.

Marshfield remained ahead 48-45 into the final minute with two Xaverian’s attempts at a game-tying three fell short. That set the stage for Feldman, who caught the ball in the middle of Xaverian’s zone, turned and drilled a foul line jumper to put Marshfield on top by five with 30 seconds to go.

“It’s wide open so there are a lot of rock fights,” Fisher said. “Teams are going to win ugly. That’s what this tournament is about. You have to win games ugly. Xaverian played terrific defense but our defense was special also.”

Marshfield controlled play in the first half. Brilliant scored five points while Feldman added four to put the hosts up 14-7 after one. The Hawks garnered some offensive rhythm in the second quarter with Manny Duran (15 points, 4 rebounds) connecting on three field goals. Feldman, however, had a layup and Padden added five points of his own to give the Rams a 31-21 lead at the break.