Bates women’s basketball has successfully tapped the pipeline to Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania during coach Jim Murphy’s tenure.

The Bobcats often boast two or three players from the Maine Class A ranks, too.

Having someone in the regular rotation who was enduring the endless bus rides of the Mountain Valley Conference only one season ago, however, is a rare sight.

Allaina Murphy of Poland Spring (St. Dominic Academy) is more than an exception to the rule. She is a major contributor in the Bobcats’ quest to end an NCAA Division III tournament drought.

Murphy was the first player off the bench Thursday night at Bowdoin and made an immediate impact.

The 5-foot-11 Murphy went skyward for an offensive rebound, then strongly to the rim for an immediate bucket, inspiring the coach to turn to his right and use the efforts as an object lesson.

“You see that?” Jim Murphy asked his team. “She wants it. You need to want it.”

That desire is manifesting itself on the statistics sheet. Murphy scored seven points, hauled down three rebounds and made a steal in only 12 minutes of a 66-60 loss to the Polar Bears.

She has appeared in all seven games for Bates (5-2).

Murphy tied for the team lead in rebounds with six in her collegiate debut, a 76-63 defeat at Southern Maine. She’s averaging 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Expect her playing time to increase as Bates uses its depth in an attempt to run NESCAC opponents ragged, especially in the claustrophobic hotbox known as Alumni Gym.

“It’ll be a lot warmer when we see them next time,” Coach Murphy said of Bowdoin.

Army strong

In some ways, the Central Maine Community College basketball family is like the Eagles’ Hotel California: You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Or at least you’ll always be part of the family.

The latest evidence is Oxford Hills product Justin Cocroft returning to the Mustangs after sipping a cup of coffee several seasons ago.

“He was with us, just kind of this little guy right out of high school,” CMCC coach Dave Gonyea said. “Then he went off and spent about three years in the Army and came back to us. Now it’s, ‘Yes, sir. No, sir.’ I like that.”

Gonyea also enjoys the change on the court, where Cocroft is making that stronger presence felt. Cocroft hit two of CMCC’s 10 3-pointers Wednesday night in an 81-73 victory over the University of Maine at Augusta.

Cocroft came off the bench to score 14 points in a previous 86-65 win over Unity, a team-high 13 in an 82-45 rout of Nashua Community College and seven points in an 87-76 verdict over Quinsigamond.

CM’s other key local cog in the first semester is Brandon Giguere, the latest in a long line of collegiate players from the powerful Edward Little High School program.

Giguere played limited minutes against UMA and did not score. He was injured in a collision with a teammate at practice earlier in the week.

“His calf is still bothering him,” Gonyea said.

Giguere scored 11 points against Nashua and chipped in six points and four rebounds versus Quinsigamond.

Back in business

After sitting out several games with an injury, Kenni Norton of Strong (Mt. Abram) is back in the lineup for the University of Maine at Farmington women’s basketball team.

Norton scored a team-high 12 points Friday night in a 58-40 loss at New England College.

In three games, Norton is averaging double figures (10.3 points per game) while playing fewer than 20 minutes per contest. She already had four 3-pointers and is the second most accurate shooter on the squad at above 40 percent.

Mallory Bonnevie of Jay has appeared in all eight games for the Beavers as a sophomore. Bonnevie has amassed 18 points, four assists and three steals.

Senior moment

Matt Harmon of Auburn (Edward Little) has been named one of five captains for the University of Southern Maine men’s track and field team.

Harmon helped the Huskies win the Little East Conference and New England Alliance titles in 2011. He set the school record in the 35-pound weight throw and twice earned Little East field athlete of the week laurels. He scored six points for the Huskies in the LEC championship.

[email protected]