Behind the closed door of a locker room Saturday night in Hays, a quiet chorus of Manhattan Indian voices began to cheer in unison. The cry, subtle at first, quickly crescendoed into a roar, and chaos erupted.

It was the sound of the Manhattan High boys basketball team, a sound inspired by its 80-72 win over Olathe North, capturing the 2015 Hays City Shoot-Out tournament championship.

As video posted online just minutes later proved, it was also the sound of players reacting to head coach Benji George doing “the dab.”

“I had to have our managers teach me how to do it, but I did it,” George said. “It was kind of fun. I did it a few times.”

The celebration was only possible because of the Indians’ effort against the fifth-ranked team in 6A, a roster stocked with nine seniors, all of them 6-2 or taller.

It was also a team senior Gabe Awbrey gashed for a career-high 32 points.

“He is a consummate, quiet assassin. He’s the not the most vocal guy in the world; he just goes about his business,” George said. “From the time he was a freshman, he practices every practice like it’s Friday night at 7:30.”

The 32, half of which Awbrey registered at the charity stripe, arrived at perhaps the most opportune time Manhattan has encountered on the young season. The senior said he picked a good night to set a career-high.

“It’s fun to score; it’s fun to win championships,” Awbrey said. “So, put it all together, and it’ll definitely be a game that I’ll remember for a while, from a team standpoint and individually.”

Awbrey began his journey with the varsity squad as just a sophomore. Though the list of games he has played extends a long distance, he said the win ranks high in the archive.

“It’s definitely up there. They’re ranked in state, and everything,” Awbrey said. “It was such a fun game to play in. It has to be one of my favorites, for sure.”

Before Saturday, the Indians had not yet encountered a team with the size Olathe North possesses. Thankfully for Manhattan, George had a blueprint spelled out for quelling the Eagles, including one for 6-4 senior R.J. Smith, who finished with 14 points.

“We thought maybe we could get [Smith] into some frustration fouls, and we did. He got in foul trouble, and that was a huge factor for us,” George said. “Guards, frustrate him; bigs, frustrate him, and just, really, plan on them having an off night from the arc.”

Much of the frustration was engineered by Manhattan’s 2-3 zone, perhaps most notably in the first quarter: the Indians forced the Eagles into a 1:18 first possession, concluding with senior Grant Munsen picking off an Olathe North pass inside.

The defensive scheme revolved so much around Smith that junior Cade Roberts consulted graduate Pierson McAtee for his prescription.

“He told me to just stay bodied with [Smith],” Roberts said. “Stay lower, and push him out of the lane.”

McAtee may have known a thing or two: Manhattan’s backcourt curbed Smith to just four first-half points, a period in which the Indians raced out to a lead.

Manhattan managed a four-point lead after the first frame, but the separation that swelled in the second half stemmed from the second quarter. Between triples, free throws and forcing three turnovers, the Indians entered halftime with a 37-23 cushion.

The first half, maybe, was when Awbrey and junior Trevor Hudgins knowing and having played with a few Eagles made the biggest difference.

“You know what they like to do a little bit more; what they’re good at,” Awbrey said. “Especially early on in the season when you might not have very much film of them, knowing some of the players definitely helps with that.”

Manhattan’s stifling of Smith continued in the third period, so the Eagles turned to others to claw back into the game. Kenny Byers and Storey Jackson combined for 14, and the momentum was snatched from the Indians’ grasp. Their lead was down to nine on the threshold of the fourth quarter.

That’s when an element of the game Olathe North had yet to exploit came into play: the long ball. Danny Baker connected on three of them, the last of which brought his team to within eight with three minutes to play.

But Awbrey parried the comeback attempt by hitting 9-of-10 free throws in the final frame, securing the title for Manhattan and sending the Indians back home with the tournament hardware.

The hardware includes medals for Awbrey and junior Tommy Eckart, who were named to the All-Tournament team, as well as for senior Cole Gritton, who was named to the All-Academic team.

MHS improves to a perfect 3-0 with the win, and the Indians will get nearly a week off until hitting the road again next Saturday for a matchup with Dodge City.

For now, though, the Indians will savor the championship.

“We came here wanting a title,” Awbrey said. “And we got a title.”