MANCHESTER — For coaches, players and fans who felt Manchester West’s holiday hoop win over Queen City rival Trinity was a fluke, the Blue Knights simply say this:

Guess again.

The message was delivered inside packed Quinn Gymnasium Friday night, where the West Side squad that doesn’t lack swagger earned a 63-59 win in Division I boys’ basketball. Jocarl Bureau buried a left-corner 3-ball for the game’s first points and West never trailed en route to its second win over the preseason favorite Pioneers since late December.

“Trinity was saying it was a fluke that we beat them the first time,” said crunch-time star Ivan Ilic, referring to his team’s 66-59 win over Trinity in the Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament’s first round. “They said we were going to lose by 15 this time. We came out and knew what we had to do.”

West (4-3) won its third straight league game by sharing the basketball — and the spotlight.

Bureau and Aaron Martin each scored a team-high 13 points. Ilic also cracked double digits with 10 points, including a pair of dagger 3-pointers.

Ilic’s first trey sent the Blue Knights into the final frame with a 43-34 lead. Michael Gamache penetrated to the paint, drew multiple defenders with him, and kicked the ball out to West’s 6-foot 3-inch forward on the right wing.

Nothing but net.

“My hat’s off to (West coach) Danny Bryson. I think he’s got the most athletic team in Division I basketball,” Trinity coach Dave Keefe said. “They shot the ball much better than we did.”

Trinity (5-2) struggled mightily from the field, particularly in the first half. Keefe’s club through two quarters was 7 of 27 from the floor.

Pounding the paint, Ian Sistare (game-high 16 points), Mabor Gabriel (12 points) and Carmen Giampetruzzi (11 points) kept the Pioneers within striking distance. The 6-foot-7 Gabriel and 6-foot-10 Silvere Aluko also posed problems with their strong interior defense.

West, which couldn’t pull away, took a 20-16 lead into halftime.

But Bryson’s boys were quicker to 50-50 balls — and magnets for must-have rebounds — in the second half.

Travis Descoteaux (seven points) sparked a pivotal 7-2 run with an offensive rebound-turned-putback bucket early in the third. Gamache capped the surge with a straightaway trey.

Fast forward to the fourth.

Ilic — visiting family in Bosnia when West stunned Trinity in the QCIBT — drained his second shot from beyond the arc with 2-plus minutes to play. He immediately forced a steal at the other end, momentarily preserving a 57-50 lead.

Pat Keefe (11 points) and Sistare sank jumpers highlighting Trinity’s last-ditch run. It pulled the Pioneers within 59-57 inside the final minute.

Ilic extended the lead with a free throw. Andrew Lauderdale’s 3-point bid to tie the game hit the side of the rim.

Guess who pulled down critical the rebound?

“He stepped up big,” Bryson said of Ilic. “Since he came back from vacation, he has been a totally different kid. But we’re a totally different team.

“The sky’s the limit for us. But we’ve still got to play together as a team. Tonight was a prime example.”