Staff photo/Greg Macafee Bristol’s Belle Zirzow and Howland’s Anthony Massucci pose with their trophies as Trumbull County Players of the Year.

HOWLAND — Bristol’s Belle Zirzow and Howland’s Anthony Massucci were the go-to players for their respective teams all season long.

As seniors, they were leaned on in key moments of games and more often than not, they stepped up to the plate when their teams needed them the most. On Sunday, both were honored as Trumbull County Players of the Year by the Trumbull County Coaches Association at Leo’s Ristorante in Howland.

Massucci is the first boys Howland winner since Chris Mikola in 1991 — Sara Price was the most recent Howland winner, earning the award in 2017. Zirzow is the first girls Bristol winner since 1994 when Allison Beach won the award. Zirzow’s coach John King, a Bristol grad, is also a former Trumbull County player of the year award winner and won the award in 2002.

Zirzow averaged 22.9 points and 10 rebounds per game while also leading the Panthers to their first district title in 25 years this season. She said was thankful to earn player of the year honors to cap off an incredible high school career.

“This is really special and it’s an honor to be able to receive it,” Zirzow said. “I loved being able to get to the regionals for our final year and being the first team to do it in 25 years was just an honor and it was super fun to be able to do it with my teammates.”

Behind Zirzow, who is heading to D’Youville University in the fall to continue her basketball career, the Panthers earned an overall record of 22-4 and their only regular season losses came against LaBrae, Garfield, and Liberty.

The Panthers topped McDonald 48-33 to capture that elusive district title before falling to Dalton in the regional tournament to end the season. It was an accomplishment Zirzow and her teammates had been hoping to achieve after falling short in the years prior and Zirzow was happy to be able to cross it off the list.

“It was really special to be able to do that,” Zirzow said. “Just knowing it was with the group of seniors that I had and with the underclassmen was really special.”

Massucci was just as important to his team this year as he averaged 20 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.6 steals per game this year. He did it all for the Tigers as they racked up an overall record of 15-10 and reached a district final for the first time since 2004.

For Massucci, winning Trumbull County Player of the Year has always been a goal.

“It’s been a goal for a long time,” Massucci said. “I had an older brother who played in 2017 and he wasn’t able to do it. So I wanted to do it for the family. I’ve been working towards it for a long time so it feels really good.”

In his final season at Howland, Massucci was a scoring machine and topped 30-plus points four different times throughout the season.

He started the year with a 32-point outing against Poland in a 67-56 win over the Bulldogs and then he finished off his high school career with a 32-point outing against Louisville in the district championship.

“It was a roller coaster year with a lot of ups and downs,” Massucci said. “Fortunately at the end we made a great run and came up just short in the district final.”

Unfortunately that’s where Massucci’s basketball career came to an end.

Due to injuries to both his left and right knee’s, Massucci said that he won’t be able to continue his basketball career at the next level.

But, his injuries did give him some inspiration as to what he wants to work towards in college.

“Unfortunately my knees are gonna hold me back from playing in college but it did, my injuries, spark an interest in physical therapy,” Massucci said.