MANCHESTER — Manchester West pulled off a surprising 66-59 win over city rival Trinity in the opening round of the 49th annual Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament played at Memorial High.

West’s Jocarl Bureau simply stole the game away from Trinity. The 6-foot-3 junior forward thwarted every one of Trinity’s fourth-quarter comeback bids by making a steal and forcing a turnover. He netted 10 of his game-high 22 points in the final quarter in addition to making three key steals and a nifty bounce-pass assist.

“I just jumped in the passing lanes,” said Bureau of his fourth-quarter heroics against a taller crosstown rival considered capable of challenging for a second straight Division I title. “We were confident against theses guys. We’ve got a good team too.”

West advances to a winners’ bracket meeting with another city rival, Central, tonight at 7:30. In the other winners’ bracket game, Merrimack meets Exeter at 6 p.m. The Tomahawks beat Dover, 59-51. Exeter drew a first-round bye.

Trinity will play Memorial in a 4:30 p.m. consolation game.

Bureau’s teammate, Aaron Martin, tallied 21 points in a game featuring 10 lead changes. The duo of Bureau and Martin, a senior forward, combined to hit five lead-changing buckets.

“It was their night tonight,” said West coach Dan Bryson. “We played with intensity and stayed active with our hands on defense. This was a good solid win for us. The kind of game these city kids will be talking about 20 years from now.”

West built seven-point leads in the third and fourth quarters and staved off Trinity comeback bids.

Trinity towers Mabor Gabriel (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Andrew Lauderdale (six points 10 rebounds) dominated the post and seemed to control the boards, but West swished big baskets when it mattered most.

“You can’t get the rebound if we make the shot,” said Martin. “The team was helping me find my shots and I was hitting them.”

Trinity guard Jake Hamel nailed four deep treys and finished with 12 points. Each one had the potential to spark a comeback bid, but Martin and Bureau shots kept the momentum in West’s favor.

Central 52, Memorial 41: Central’s offense kicked into gear during the third period of the tourney’s first-night finale, played before a capacity crowd.

The Little Green converted a one-point lead into a double-digit bulge by opening the second half with a 12-2 run. Troy Pelletier (12 points), Junior Brown (11 points), Gabe LaCount (13 points) and Christian Artiga (12 points) led Central’s balanced scoring attack.

The offensive outburst was in stark contrast to a low-scoring first half, ending with Central clinging to a 19-18 lead. Central built its third quarter lead by forcing turnovers and working the ball down low for good looks.

Michael Torres led Memorial’s scoring with 11 points while Majak Wenyin hit two treys and tallied eight points.

Merrimack 59, Dover 51: Dimitri Floras led the Tomahawks a dazzling 22-point, seven rebound five assist effort. The 6-foot-2 junior, considered one of the best guards in the Granite State, controlled the throttle to Merrimack’s attack, knocking down some deep jumpers and finishing a number of double-pump drives.

Floras worked well with the Gendron brothers, Tyler and Eric, who each contributed 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.

“Dimitri is a great player. His game is go, go, go,” said Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge. “He can push the ball real well and can be explosive.”

With the two clubs combining to sink six 3-pointers in the first quarter, the lead swapped sides five times. Merrimack opened a double-digit lead in the second quarter with Floras leading the club’s transition attack. He banked two fast-break buckets and assisted on two others as Merrimack jumped to a 33-23 intermission lead.

Floras guarded Dover’s Mike LeBlanc and limited him to six free throws in the second half.

LaBlanc, a 6-foot-6 junior forward led the Green Wave with 13 points and grabbed five rebounds.