It’s safe to say that Olivia Breen’s return to Maine basketball has gone pretty well so far.
After spending her eighth grade season in Florida at the same national basketball powerhouse where Cooper and Ace Flagg played part of their high school careers, Breen ventured back to her home state of Maine and is in her freshman year at Oceanside High School in Rockland.
And what a year it’s been so far.
The 15-year-old Breen is averaging nearly 30 points and around 10 rebounds per game for the second ranked team in Class B South. And she added a staggering performance for the 9-1 Mariners on Thursday night, scoring a school-record 50 points in a comfortable win over Lincoln Academy.
Oceanside coach Matt Breen, who is also Olivia Breen’s father, called it a team achievement in an interview with the Bangor Daily News on Friday.
“She never would have got to 50 without her teammates getting the ball ahead and finding her in good position to score,” Matt Breen said. “It’s great for her, but it’s also a feather in the cap for the team. They all took part in setting that record.”
The coach was not 100 percent sure, but believed that the previous record belonged to his older daughter, Bailey Breen, who had scored in the low 40s for Oceanside and is now a freshman on the University of Maine women’s basketball team.
And while the coach said Olivia Breen has seen success on the court so far this season with plenty of hard work, he repeatedly emphasized that the results have been driven by the collective ability of the team.
With Breen’s imposing six-foot-two presence down low and strong perimeter shooting from other players, the coach said opponents are not able to focus solely on one aspect of the Mariners offense.
“We’ve got a really good cast around her, so it has definitely helped — helped immensely,” Matt Breen said. “We have shooters out on the perimeter, so it allows for less doubles and triples down in the paint.”
He credited Renee Ripley for making the switch from center to point guard this season and said she is “doing a great job” as a conference leader in assists. He also highlighted the work of Addison Poland at shooting guard and forward Abby Stackpole for continuing to play a “big role” for the team.
I’m happy with how this team’s developing and growing,” Matt Breen said. “We’ve had to make some adjustments and we have people playing new positions.”
He’s happy with the way the team is gelling, and how they played together Thursday night and facilitated Olivia Breen’s record-setting performance as a unit.
“My girls were really good defensively last night, creating havoc and getting the ball ahead to her,” the coach added. “That played a big factor in it. The team was really solid.”
Olivia Breen returned to Maine already with several offers in hand to play Division I college basketball. Breen received offers from Boston College, Providence College and Robert Morris in Pennsylvania hall before she had played a single game in high school.