The North Iowa Conference battle between Forest City and the Bulldogs in Lake Mills was supposed to be a match-up of two of the most explosive scorers the state of Iowa has to offer, but both scorers were held in check most of Tuesday night as the Indians slipped past the Bulldogs 57-51 in Lake Mills.

Forest City’s Tyler Putz came into the game leading the state of Iowa in scoring, averaging 28.8 points per game while Lake Mills countered with senior Chris Throne, who has averaged 22.2 points per game.

The two, however, combined to score only 16 points. Putz scored 11 for Forest City, while Throne had five for the Bulldogs.

“We were hoping, obviously, to limit Putz,” said Lake Mills head coach Kyle Menke. “He has been putting up huge numbers all season, especially in the last few games. I thought our kids did a great job with that part of it. We made other kids have to step up and make big shots.”

Menke probably didn’t expect one of those other kids to score 29 points, but that’s what Kyle Rosacker did. Rosacker led a fourth quarter 9-4 run for Indians where he scored all nine points and put Forest City on top 52-44.

While Lake Mills tried to limit Putz, Forest City did the same by hounding Throne all night and the Bulldogs had to find other scoring options.

Marcus Gaskill stepped up for the Bulldogs, scoring a team-high 21 points. Lake Mills pounded the ball into the interior where Gaskill used an array of post moves to get to the basket. Jordan Colby also scored in double figures for the Bulldogs with 11 points.

“He’s a tough player inside” Menke said of Gaskill. “He’s got very good hands, has a soft touch around the basket. He’s shooting a very high percentage from the field for us … to be honest I wish we could have gotten him more touches, he did a great job.”

The Bulldogs trailed by three points, 43-40, heading into the fourth quarter, but that’s when Rosacker hit big shot after big shot to help the Indians pull away.

With 3 minutes to go Lake Mills lost starting point guard Alex Grunhovd when he picked up his fifth foul. Menke said the loss of Grunhovd, who is second in the state in assists, played a factor down the stretch.

“It was big” said Menke with Grunhovd fouling out. “When he got his fourth foul, we needed to take a chance. We knew there was a potential of him fouling out, but if we put him on the bench, we’re not as good of a ball club. It was a risk we took and it back fired a little bit, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Grunhovd’s fifth foul also put Forest City in the bonus with the Bulldogs trailing by six and sent Rosacker to the line. Rosacker hit both free throws to give the Indians a comfortable eight-point lead in the waning minutes.

A tough stretch of games for the Bulldogs continues Friday when they play North Iowa in Lake Mills.

Forest City 57, Lake Mills 51

Forest City 14 15 14 14 — 57

Lake Mills 14 13 13 11 — 51

Forest City scoring: Kyle Rosacker 29, Tyler Putz 11, Derek Amundson 10, Tyler Flugum 3, Justin Putney 2, Matt Snyder 2.

Lake Mills scoring: Marcus Gaskill 21, Jordan Colby 11, Tyler Rice 7, Chris Throne 5, Tim Brandt 5, Drey LyBarger 3, Eric Johnson 1.