Union Leader Athlete of the Month: Exeter’s Morissette had an unforgettable March for Saint Anselm

When Josh Morissette closes his eyes and thinks back to that special night, he goes back to Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.

More than 1,000 fans filed into the 1,200-seat building 30 minutes before tip-off. They erupted into the biggest cheer Morissette has ever heard in a home game after she drained a three-pointer with 5:01 left to give the Saint Anselm College men’s basketball team a 14-point lead in the Northeast 10 Championship game.

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When the final whistle sounded, fans stormed the pitch and Exeter’s senior defender hugged anyone who came to him.

The Hawks’ 75-69 victory over Saint Michael’s College to capture their 11th NE 10 title on March 7 was the highlight of an unforgettable March for Morissette.

“I don’t know if words can describe it,” said Morissette about the game. “It was a moment that will stay in my head until I die.”

For her performance in Saint Anselm’s NCAA Division II Sweet 16 run, Morissette was named the New Hampshire Apple Therapy Services/Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center/Express MED Athlete of the Month by the Association’s Leadership Board of Judges.

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Morissette, who attended Exeter High School for two years before transferring to Phillips Exeter Academy, averaged 23.6 points and four rebounds per game over Saint Anselm’s five March playoff games.

In the NE 10 championship game, Morissette scored a month-high 28 points and grabbed six boards. Morissette was named Most Outstanding Player of the NE 10 Tournament after the game.

Saint Anselm’s victory over the Purple Knights marked the fourth of four meetings between the teams last season.

“They played a really good matchup and, for me, I was able to get to the middle of the first half and I was able to hit my outside shots,” said Morissette, who went 6-for-11 from three-point range. “My teammates did a great job of getting into the paint and the defense dropped a lot and I got open. …I think I shot it pretty well at the end of the season and, thankfully, it carried over that night and into the NCAA tournament.”

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The Hawks (25-8), who also won the NE 10 regular season title, opened their NCAA tournament run by defeating conference foe Assumption 92-81 in the first round of the East Regional.

Morissette, who transferred to Saint Anselm from Division I Wofford College after his freshman year, made five of his six 3-pointer attempts as he set the Hawks’ single-season 3-pointer record and finished with 24 points.

The win was Saint Anselm’s second against three Greyhounds.

Morissette, who went 119-for-273 (.436) from 3-point range last season, said Assumption was a tough game for the Hawks.

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“I think every player on the team can say our biggest weakness as a team is that we turned the ball over too many times,” Morissette said, “and Assumption pressured every game. …

Saint Anselm, which turned the ball over 17 times, trailed the Greyhounds 43-41 at halftime but took the lead after Jack Medalie’s layup with 6:46 left to break a 64-64 tie.

The Hawks then avenged their early season loss to Felician by beating the Golden Falcons 99-77 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Morissette scored 23 points in the win.

In the East regional final, Saint Anselm “faced a buzzsaw,” Morissette said, defeating Daemen 94-73 on March 17.

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Despite outside predictions — the Hawks were picked to finish seventh in the NE 10 in the conference’s preseason coaches poll — there were high expectations for the institution last season, Morissette said.

With the program’s championship history, winning the NE 10 title is more of an afterthought than an aspiration for the Hilltop, he said.

“The expectation was that we would win NE 10 and that’s what we’ve been talking about all fall,” Morissette said. “You have three goals: win the NE 10 regular season, win the NE 10 title and win regionals and we were able to pick two of those three.”

Other athletes slated to be honored in March are Londonderry High School basketball player Sammie Sullivan, Pinkerton Academy boys basketball player Josh Phanor, Littleton High School boys basketball player Aury Perez, Derryfield School girls basketball player Anna Fazelat, Hanover High School girls hockey player Pauline Rudd, Middle School boys hockey player Tyler Jean and Ryle University women’s player Stanford Boviere.

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Sullivan, a senior, averaged 15.3 points in four playoff games as he led Londonderry to the NHAA Division I title in March.

Phanor, a sophomore from Derry, averaged 22.7 points over Pinkerton’s three March NHAA Division I playoff games en route to winning the section championship.

Perez, a junior, scored a team-high 17 points, including the game-winner, in Littleton’s 48-44 NHIAA Division IV semifinal win over Portsmouth Christian Academy on March 3. In Littleton’s 55-21 win over Groveton in the Division IV final on March 7, Perez scored 10 points.

Fazelat, a sophomore from Bedford, averaged 10 points, six assists, three steals and five rebounds per game while shooting 86% from the free throw line as Derryfield won three games to capture the NHAA Division II title in March.

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Rudd, a sophomore center, scored twice in Hanover’s 4-1 semifinal win over Bishop Brady/Trinity/Bow and had a goal in the Bears’ 4-2 win over Oyster River/Portsmouth in the state final in March.

Jean, a senior captain, scored twice in Spaulding’s 3-1 win over Oyster River in the NHAA Division II finals and scored again in a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Goffstown in March.

Bouvier, a senior midfielder from Hollis, recorded eight points (seven goals, one assist), eight rebounds, 11 ground balls and nine turnovers in the Cardinal’s final regular-season games in March.

2026 graduates: January, Nolan Walsh, Concord (hockey); February, Caroline Harvey, Salem (hockey).