The Stage: Saturday AM Standouts

<p>Seven prospect standouts from Saturday morning at The Stage:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1297886" first="Fitz" last="Freeman"] -- PF -- MN Chill 2024</strong></p> <p>Freeman is a really intriguing prospect. Standing at 6-foot-5 with a lot of strength, the power forward is able to use his size to score well on the block. He is a very good rebounder and defender who welcomes contact. Also a tremendous athlete, Freeman did a lot to raise his stock in a win Saturday morning for MN Chill.  </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1288817" first="Drew" last="Balentine"] -- PG -- MN Chill 2024</strong></p> <p>All of Balentine’s scoring abilities were on display Saturday morning. The point guard out of MCA drained outside shots, finished at the rim, drew fouls, and even converted on a beautiful floater at one point in the first half. Slick as a ball handler, Balentine does a really nice job of using his handles to get by defenders and penetrate the paint. Balentine scored 26 points -- including the game winning bucket -- for MN Chill. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="962204" first="Lincoln" last="Palbicki"] -- C -- MN Select 2023</strong></p> <p>Palbicki is a handful to deal with in the paint. Standing at 6-foot-10, he is one of the few true centers in today’s high school game. I really liked what the Maple Grove standout was able to do on Saturday morning. He scored well in the paint, rebounded, altered shots, and even showed his range by stepping outside and draining a shot. With a handful of college coaches on the baseline, the MN Select center no doubt made a statement. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1138436" first="Jordan" last="Malmlov"] -- G -- MN Select 2023 </strong></p> <p>Malmlov is an extremely dangerous shooter who opposing teams can’t afford to leave open. He was a top performer all season long for Prescott as a junior, and it looks like he has continued his strong play. While his shooting ability is no doubt his greatest asset, Malmlov has proven to not just be a one trick pony. He is very talented as a ball handler and slasher. Also not afraid to mix it up on the defensive end. Malmlov scored 19 points on five made threes in the winning effort. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1189958" first="Isaiah" last="Hagen"] -- PG -- MN Select 2023</strong></p> <p>Hagen was a standout performer last night for Minnesota Select. Saturday morning was much of the same for the guard. In a hard-fought overtime win over a good Gateway Knights squad, Hagen tallied 20 points on seven made field goals. A pure scorer with an ability to get buckets from all three levels, Hagen is a talented prospect who should see his name shoot up Minnesota’s 2023 rankings. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1022499" first="Bennett" last="Fried"] -- SF -- Coulee Country 2023</strong></p> <p>All of Fried’s skills were on display in Coulee Country’s win over Minnesota Heat. The 6-foot-6 small forward out of La Crosse Central really impressed. On defense, he was able to use his length to block shots and keep his man in front of him. On offense, Fried is a really dangerous player that can beat an opposing defense in many different ways. Fried is a very good ball handler, so he has no issue using his dribble to get to the rim and score. As a catch and shoot shooter, Fried is major threat. There are simply no weak areas in the SF’s offensive game. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="990740" first="Devon" last="Fielding"] -- PG -- Coulee Country 2023 </strong></p> <p>Fielding is one of the top point guards in Wisconsin’s 2022 class. And he is still uncommitted. Fielding is a very talented scorer who can put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses when he gets to the rim. He didn’t get up a ton of shots today, but that is what I like about Fielding’s game: He never forces shots. He lets the game come to him. Fielding finds a lot of success because of this. </p>