Douglas E. Bond Gymnasium on the campus of Tacoma Baptist Schools turned into tough environment for the visiting Evergreen Lutheran girls basketball team on Friday.

Melanie Shank continually rode to the rescue for Tacoma Baptist in a 51-45 win against Evergreen Lutheran in a SeaTac 2B South Division match up of league powerhouses.

The 5-foot-8 inch senior Crusader guard was solid all the way en route to 23 points and 10 rebounds.

"We fought back and rallied from way back against a good team," observed Evergreen Lutheran head coach Jeff Kurbis.

Tacoma Baptist now leads the division at 9-0 with a 15-2 overall record. Second place Evergreen Lutheran (6-2, 10-5) is just ahead of 5-2 Crosspoint -- whom it has beaten twice.

"Our team is successful because of hard work, commitment to the program and teamwork," explained Crusader head coach Josh Narayan. "We have good senior leadership and tonight we shot well from the free throw line."

The Crusaders shot 16-of-19 from the charity stripe to underscore his statement.

Tacoma Baptist needed a full effort to hold off the onrushing charge of Evergreen Lutheran.

"This game was an improvement from the last time we played them," declared Caty Poetter. "We just had a low shooting percentage."

Shank's ability to scrape off screens and post defenders down low combined with her outside shooting skills turned an Eagle 1-0 lead -- the only EL lead of the game -- into a first quarter 17-9 Crusader margin. Kelsey Lyons and Hannah Zeitler also aided the effort.

Erika Herman, Melanie Laete and Caty Poetter combined to keep the Eagles inside radar range.

Hard working Herman sparked an Eagle comeback with two consecutive second quarter field goals as Evergreen Lutheran drew within 17-13.

Enter Shank with a three-point goal to ignite a Tacoma Baptist surge that produced a 12-point margin before Markelle Lance notched a goal to bring the Eagles within 29-19 heading into the halftime intermission.

Capturing a second wind, the Eagles tightened up their pressure defense and received dividends immediately. Herman and Lance combined for six consecutive Evergreen Lutheran points to narrow the Crusader lead to 31-25 before Tacoma Baptist turned up its physicality to draw away to a 10-point margin.

Playing hard in the paint, Laete later powered the Eagles within 35-31 on a standard three-point play with 28.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Shank stepped up for Tacoma Baptist with a field goal to send the Crusaders into the final quarter with a 37-31 lead.

Refusing to be knocked out for the count, Evergreen Lutheran continually came off the ropes to stay within a four to six point range until Megume Poetter scored on a three-pointer from beyond the arc at the top of the key to get the combative Eagles close at 43-40 as the scoreboard clock exhibited 3:14 left.

Shank came through again for Tacoma Baptist with a bank shot bucket ahead of a Laete inside goal to keep the Eagles within three, 45-42, with 2:25 left.

Shank shook loose for a lay up and the Eagles missed a three-pointer in what would be their final fling. The Crusaders converted two free throws and a field goal to gain the decision.

"We made a great effort," observed Herman, who scored 12 points. "It just wasn't enough."

Despite another tough loss to Tacoma Baptist, determined Evergreen Lutheran still looked for another chance at their tough rivals.

"We played hard and we're improving every game," said Laete, who came on strong from the post in the second half to record 13 points with 5-of-7 shooting from the free throw line. "We'll get them the next time."

Lance added to the Eagle offense with nine points. Caty Poetter led EL rebounders with six.

Jennifer Rea contributed 11 points to the Crusader cause.