The Manhattan High boys basketball team has not yet won a sub-state game under head coach Benji George — let alone a trip to the state tournament.

But that’s the way the Indians are approaching their season-opening tournament in Hays.

Fresh off an 18-3 season, Manhattan gets its 2015 campaign underway Thursday at the Hays Shoot-Out, a tournament of eight teams from around Kansas. It’s a weekend tournament, with games on both Friday and Saturday, no matter if MHS wins or loses its games.

George said the tournament shares a number of similarities with the state event in Wichita, so many that he has asked his players to adopt the ethos of going to state.

“It’s a good example,” George said. “It’s about the same distance of a road trip, it’s getting on a bus, you’re hoping, at State, three games in three days. So mentally I think we can get in that same mindset that when we get on the bus, we’re going to the state tournament.”

Senior guard Gabe Awbrey has taken up a like attitude.

“It’s not like you’ve just got to be ready for Friday, play the game, and then have a whole other week to prepare,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to forget about it right afterwards and move on to the next one, whether it’s a win or a loss.”

Despite a quick turnaround between games coupled with limited practice time — each team gets an hour on Friday and Saturday each — George said his team’s bench is deep enough that he doesn’t foresee fatigue becoming an issue.

“The fact that we go 11 or 12 deep, I think, is really going to help,” George said. “It may be a situation where some guys don’t play as many minutes on that first night, but as the weekend goes along, they’re getting more and more minutes. And again, that’s just an example of where our versatility can be an advantage for us.”

The Indians are set to take on Thomas More Prep-Marian in the first round. TMP was ousted from the 4A-II state tournament in March with an opening-round loss, but George expects a resurgence from the Monarchs. He is focusing on two players in particular: guard Payton Hoffman and forward Jared Vitzum.

“They have a point guard coming back, a 6-2 kid that’s fairly talented,” he said. “Our main priority and concern is their big guy [Vitzum]. He’ll go inside and out. They run a lot of stuff through him. He’s the main guy we have to be concerned about.”

Tasked with guarding Vitzum will be primarily Grant Munsen. The senior said defending him will not be an easy assignment.

“He’s probably their best player, so we’re going to have to lock him up,” Munsen said. “If he gets the ball in the post, he has a good chance of scoring, so our best option is denying him the ball; getting backside help.”

The other two schools on Manhattan’s side of the bracket are Newton and Garden City, a tilt George and assistant Tony Ingram plan to watch for scouting purposes. And though he has fixated emphasis on the tournament, one that could potentially feature a Manhattan-Olathe North matchup, a clash of two top-five-ranked teams in Kansas, George explained that the season does not rest upon the outcome.

“We have to communicate to our guys that we have to understand that it’s a process, and that we’re focused on the process,” George said. “Whether we got 3-0 or we go 0-3, or whatever it may be, this tournament is a very small part of a much bigger process. It’s going to be a good measuring stick; it’s going to be a good example to see where we’re at, but it’s part of a process. That’s all it is. We’re not putting everything on the line in terms of we win this tournament and the season’s a success, or anything like that. We want to use it as a learning experience for the bigger tournaments down the road.”

The Hays Shoot-Out comes before that bigger tournament, though.

Manhattan and TMP are slated for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Thursday evening at Hays Middle School.