Basketball phenom Olivia Breen, 14, is leaving Maine to attend Montverde Academy in Florida. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Olivia Breen got the news out first. Bailey Breen followed soon after.

The Breen sisters will be taking their game up a notch.

Bailey, 17, and Olivia, 14, have announced that they’ll continue their rising basketball careers at Montverde Academy, a prep school in Florida about 20 minutes away from Orlando that plays a national schedule.

Olivia, originally at Oceanside Middle School and going into eighth grade, announced the news on Instagram on Tuesday, while Bailey, who is going into her senior year after leading Oceanside High to two of the last three Class B championships, revealed it on Wednesday. The sisters began school at Montverde on Aug. 19.

Bailey Breen, who has received over 20 Division I scholarship offers, said she’s looking forward to the challenge of high competition, with college approaching. She said she hasn’t narrowed her list, but has talked the most with Maine, Providence, Fairfield, Richmond and Holy Cross, Robert Morris and Toledo.

“It’s really going to help prepare me for college, and that was the biggest thing that came into play when I was thinking about making this move,” the 6-foot-3 Breen said. “What’s going to prepare me best for the next level. It’s not just about this year, it’s about the next four years after that.

“I thought about it. I need to be uncomfortable. Everyone always says you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable. … For me, it was ‘What’s going to make me the best player I can be moving forward?’ I had to do what was best for me.”

Breen frequently drew multiple defenders when she played for the Mariners. At Montverde, where she’ll play for a team that has won three straight Chipotle High School Nationals titles, that won’t be an issue.

“It’s going to force me to expand my game defensively, offensively, too,” she said. “My ability to shoot the ball is really going to be utilized here, because we have those top athletes in the country. They’re not going to be doubling me, they’re going to be coming on screens, doubling my teammates, and I’m going to get wide-open shots.”

Bailey, though, said she didn’t decide to leave Maine until only two days before flying down to Florida on Aug. 16.

“I wanted to stay at home, I wanted to win another championship. That feeling is insane,” she said. “But I have an opportunity to win a national championship. It’s hard leaving that team, it really is, and what we had there and what we had going.”

For Olivia, the move is the latest step in a fast-moving career.

“It’s going to work wonders for me,” she said. “I knew what I had to do to be the player I always wanted to be, and the player that little me has always dreamed of. It wasn’t tough, I just knew I had to go. It was bittersweet because I’ve always been in Maine, I’ve always gone to that school. I’ve never gone to a new school in my life. So it’s a first of everything.”

At 6-foot-2 entering her eighth-grade year, Olivia Breen has already made a national splash, earning scholarship offers from Boston College, Robert Morris and Providence. Now she’ll head to a school with an established basketball reputation – the school that drew Cooper and Ace Flagg from Nokomis High in Newport two and a half years ago. She’ll play for the varsity gold team, she said, with occasional chances to play for the national team.

When asked if it feels like her career has accelerated, Breen quickly answered “dramatically.”

“I never really thought I was going to move away at the age of 14,” she said. “But it’s what I always dreamed of doing, going to a prep school that’s high level and being able to play with the highest level athletes.”

Their father, Matt, who coaches the Oceanside girls’ varsity team and said Montverde first reached out regarding both sisters in March, said Olivia “hemmed and hawed” before committing to the move.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for her, both academically and athletically,” he said. “We’re happy she’s enjoying it, we obviously want what’s best for our kids. It stinks she’s away, but it’s a great place for her to be.”

Matt Breen, who will continue coaching the Mariners, said the move for Bailey will help her make the leap to the next level.

“It’s a great experience for her to get down there and play at this level,” he said. “There’s a huge adjustment a lot of times for kids going into college … there’s a big gap from KVAC Class B to any Division I program. This will help ease that gap.”

Olivia said she’s been in touch with the Montverde Academy coach, Matt Shewmake, about her role in the program.

“The intensity I (will) play at, it’ll help me a lot and help me understand the fast pace that high-level athletes play at,” she said. “I haven’t seen that yet, I haven’t played with it.”

Olivia said her choice came down to going to Montverde or staying at Oceanside. Multiple prep schools reached out to her, but she said she turned them down when they wanted her to reclassify and go into this school year as a freshman.

Asked if her career path has become overwhelming, she said “I would say it’s a good overwhelming. It’s a great turning point. Having four people guard me and … averaging 30 (points) a game wasn’t really helping me be the player I always wanted.”

Her father said she’ll get a new challenge at the Florida school.

“I just think she’s going to get better athletically, with the strength and conditioning,” Matt Breen said. “She’s going to be challenged every day in practice, going up against Division I basketball players. I think playing at such a high level is going to help raise her basketball IQ. She’s going to learn a lot about the game.

“Stuff you can get away with playing middle school basketball up here, you’re not going to be able to get away with down there. It’s really going to change her perspective on the game and push her to compete every minute she’s on the court.”