Nobody saw the King’s Knights coming, but that’s just the way they like it.

The Knights lost three of their first eight games, pretty much assuring they’d never be in the Class 1A state rankings. But Saturday night at 9, they’ll be playing for the Class 1A title.

Junior guard Ryan Hoff, who was primarily a garbage-time player on the Knights’ fifth-place team of 2008, drilled four first-half 3-pointers as King’s built a 10-point halftime lead, then scored the first five points of the second half as the unranked Knights routed No. 3 Port Townsend 48-31.

“We definitely came into every one of these state games as underdogs,” Hoff said after scoring his game-high 16 points to move the Knights into the championship game against Vashon. “I think everybody was thinking King’s was down this year, and every game we came in with the attitude that those guys were trying to take this from us.”

Instead, the Knights (20-7) played at a tempo and with an intensity the Redskins (22-4) simply couldn’t match. Port Townsend star Parker McClelland, a presumptive all-stater, could manage only 5-for-15 shooting against the active King’s defense, while the Knights were very efficient on offense. They shot 46 percent from the field, with Hoff going 4-for-5 on 3’s.

Knights coach Bill Liley had warned his teams about how some shooters struggle in the SunDome, the vast backdrop skewing their perspective. And he had his players get comfortable by attacking the basket on opening day, passing up outside shots.

“After that, I kind of let my shooters go,” Liley said. “And boy, has he (Hoff) come on.”

“Coach said a lot of teams have a hard time adjusting to shooting in here with the backdrop,” Hoff said, then grinned. “I got used to it real quick.”

The Knights’ three tournament victories clearly weren’t ready for the Knights to be as potent as they are, but their schedule was tough. They lost in a big-team tournament in California; they lost to 3A Bishop Blanchet; they lost twice to Archbishop Murphy, which spent much of the season in the 2A state rankings. But they also beat Brewster and Bellevue Christian this season, as well as 2A state tournament qualifier Sultan.

“I learned that” — the tough-schedule, stay-under-the-radar strategy — “from him,” Liley said, gesturing toward Marv Morris, his predecessor as Knights coach. “And it worked.

“But now, it doesn’t matter what our record is or who knows about it. We’ve got one game, and one shot.”