For four minutes on Friday, it was as if the SunDome roof had parted and the sun was shining only upon the Liberty Christian Patriots, playing in their first state basketball semifinal barely an hour’s drive from their school in Richland.

Then it began to rain — specifically, Tulalip Heritage 3-pointers — all over them.

The first-time state trippers from Marysville swished nine of those rainbow bombs, four each by Lesjar McKinney and Toby Miller, en route to their extremely entertaining 66-51 triumph and a 9 p.m. championship-game date Saturday.

“We’re livin’ the dream,” grinned Hawks coach Leon Enick. “Livin’ the dream.”

Except that Friday’s game almost started out as a nightmare for Tulalip Heritage, which missed its first six shots while Liberty Christian was missing nothing. When Patriot senior Drew Hegarty ripped a 3-pointer 2 1/2 minutes into the game — his first of five treys in a 17-point performance — the Hawks were staring at a 9-0 deficit.

“Sometimes we start off a little slow,” junior Antonio Johnson said. Was it nerves? “I think so — semifinals, first time here ... you know.”

But while nerves might have got them there, they weren’t nervous about it.

“We just got warmed up, that’s all,” said senior point guard Toby Miller, who drilled three 3-pointers over the next 4 1/2 minutes, including a falling-away, off-balance 20-footer at the first-quarter buzzer, as Tulalip Heritage ran off 18 straight points.

“Once we get the fire going,” added Miller, who finished with 11 points, “it’s like a fire in a pot that just gets hotter and hotter.”

But two minutes into the second quarter, moments after the last of those 18 unanswered points, McKinney — the team’s leading scorer — picked up his third foul. At the moment, he had only two points.

Enick didn’t even think about taking him out.

“He knows how to play with play with three fouls,” Enick said. “Everybody tries to take him out of his game, but he’s just the smartest ballplayer in the world.”

McKinney didn’t pick up another foul, but he did pick up his game in a big way — shooting 10-for-13 from the field and scoring 26 points, pulling down eight rebounds, getting two steals and a pair of assists. Liberty Christian never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

“This whole season, I learned how to play with fouls,” McKinney said. “I just played better defense — used my feet, used my head. I just kept my composure.”

And kept the Hawks’ dream alive.

Liberty Christian -- Morgan 2-13 0-0 5, Higgins 3-6 2-4 8, Hegarty 5-12 2-3 17, Siefken 2-7 0-2 5, Wilson 1-4 0-0 2, Price 4-7 0-0 8, Bodeau 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 20-55 4-9 51.
Tulalip Heritage -- McKinney 10-13 2-2 26, Wooster 2-4 0-0 4, Monsegur 1-8 1-2 3, Miller 6-11 1-2 17, Wasko 1-3 2-6 4, Johnson 5-12 1-2 12, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Reedy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 7-14 66.
Liberty Christian	9	12	18	12	--	51
Tulalip Heritage	14	16	19	17	--	66
3-point goals--LC 7-27 (Hegarty 5-10, Siefken 1-4, Morgan 1-9, Price 0-1, Wilson 0-3), TH 9-23 (Miller 4-6, McKinney 4-7, Johnson 1-5, Wooster 0-1, Reedy 0-1, Monsegur 0-3). Rebounds--LC 30 (Hegarty 8, Bodeau 6), TH 38 (Johnson 10, McKinney 8). Assists--LC 12 (Higgins 4, Price 3), TH 13 (Johnson 7). Steals--LC 3 (Hegarty 2), TH 6 (McKinney 2, Johnson 2). Blocked shots--LC 2, TH 0. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--LC 12, TH 12. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers --LC 12, TH 9.