Basketball Recap: Corey Begleiter Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Cliffside Park

After having lost a blowout in their previous game against Hackensack, Northern Highlands was happy to have turned things around on Saturday. They strolled past the Cliffside Park Raiders with points to spare, taking the game 63-48. Given the Highlanders' advantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while the Raiders are ranked 210th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Corey Begleiter

Steals

02/22/25 @ Cliffside Park	5
02/20/25 vs Hackensack	2
02/18/25 vs Paramus	3
02/14/25 vs St. Mary	2

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Northern Highlands to victory, but perhaps none more so than Corey Begleiter, who went 5-for-10 on his way to 13 points in addition to five rebounds and five steals. Begleiter is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in each of the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Isaac Anderson, who went 7-for-12 en route to 17 points.

When it comes to explaining why Cliffside Park lost, don't look at Thomas Calabrese. Despite the final result, he posted 28 points along with six boards and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamil Gonzalez, who scored 13 points and five rebounds.

Northern Highlands is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-8 record this season. Cliffside Park is on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 12-12.

Northern Highlands and Cliffside Park are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. Northern Highlands will face off against Dwight Morrow at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. One thing working in Dwight Morrow's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 15 contests. As for Cliffside Park, they will look to defend their home court on Monday against McNair Academic at 6:00 p.m. Cliffside Park is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.9 points per game this season.