THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, April 9, 2016

Individual awards are nice.

But if you listen to Lewis-Clark State College junior Caelyn Orlandi, she’s just as happy with the nomination that her team received for tonight’s North Idaho sports awards, to be held in conjunction with the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame inductions at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn.

ORLANDI IS nominated for North Idaho College Female Athlete of the Year for tonight’s awards, and has a chance to win again as a member of the Lewis-Clark State women’s basketball team, which is nominated for North Idaho College Team of the Year.

“It’s a great honor,” Orlandi said of the Athlete of the Year nod. “It’s awesome, but I wouldn’t be able to be the athlete that I am without my teammates and family.”

That being said, Orlandi, a former Coeur d’Alene High standout, was a second-team All-NAIA tournament selection this year after finishing with 25 assists in three games and leading the Warriors with 41 points (13.67 per game) and advancing to the Elite Eight of the tournament.

“If I had a choice, I’d choose the team award over an individual award any day,” Orlandi said. “It says a lot about this team and I wouldn’t want to choose any other team to play with.”

Lewis-Clark State advanced to nationals for the 11th time in 12 years in 2016 and won the Frontier Conference tournament for the first time since 2012.

“It was an amazing feeling and we’ve been working for it all year,” Orlandi said. “We had a few (conference titles) in high school but nothing like this. Everyone was so happy, and I wouldn’t want to share it with anyone else. I’m proud of my teammates for working hard all year to get it done.”

To get it done, the Warriors had to beat Great Falls, and Orlandi’s high school teammate Erin Legel.

“It really says a lot about the coaches in this conference,” Orlandi said. “I’ve gotten better in my time here, (former Coeur d’Alene standout and Lewis-Clark State sophomore) Brittany (Tackett) has gotten better. I loved playing against Erin, and she’s one heck of a player. She had a great year and career.”

Playing in big games is nothing new to Orlandi, who played in the state 5A championship game three out of four years at Coeur d’Alene under coach Dale Poffenroth. The Vikings won the state title in 2010.

“Coach Poffenroth taught us how to be tough in high school,” Orlandi said. “Playing high caliber teams and playing his style of game, it helped me transition to the college level. I’ve played in big games a lot, and it helped me become confident and understanding the moment. I give him a lot of credit for where I’m at now. ‘Poff’, he started me fundamentally and (L-C State) coach (Brian) Orr has helped me grow as a player.”

As a junior, Orlandi led the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game (433 total) and led the nation with 200 total assists, and was third in assists per game with six.

“We have tried to make a concerted effort to recruit student-athletes from winning programs with the belief those are learned qualities,” said Orr, who just completed his 15th season at the school.

AFTER FINISHING the 2014-15 season 21-11, Lewis-Clark State went 27-7 in 2015-16, losing in the quarterfinals at nationals to Baker University 71-52.

“We came into this season wanting to win games,” Orlandi said. “Our coach tells us when you come back a better player from the offseason, you’re making the entire team better.”

Orlandi transitioned from shooting guard to point guard this season, sharing the role at times on the court with former Post Falls High standout Brooke Litalien.

“Coach told me that I needed to come back as a point guard,” Orlandi said. “I worked on some ball handling techniques and knew I had to finish at the rim better. Last year, I was kind of backing off at the rim and not being as aggressive. I worked on that and I think having Brooke — who is one of the best defenders in the conference — it allows me to be a little more aggressive and learn from her.”

“The biggest reason for Caelyn’s continued growth as a player is her offseason commitment,” Orr said. “We have had several All-Americans at Lewis-Clark, and the one common denominator with all of them is their work ethic, and Caelyn is second to none in that department. As a freshman, we played her at the 2 (shooting guard) and the 3 positions (small forward), and as a sophomore, she was a 1-2 combo guard. This year, we put the ball in her hands and told her she was our point guard. And she quickly became one of the top point guards in the country.”

Both Orlandi and Litalien will return to LCSC for their senior year in 2016-17.

Lewis-Clark State will lose just two players to graduation.

“Everyone would love to win a national title. You get goosebumps thinking about it,” added Orlandi, whose nickname is ‘Goose.’

“There’s no way I can overstate Caelyn’s contribution to this year’s team,” said Orr, who is nominated for North Idaho College Coach of the Year tonight. “But beyond the numbers, she is a true leader and great teammate.”

Tonight’s event gets started at 6:30, with the induction of former Coeur d’Alene softball coach Larry Bieber, former Moscow girls basketball coach Sally Greene, former Idaho defensive end Marvin Washington, former Idaho football player and wrestler Bob McCray and former Kamiah coach Bob Squires into the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame. The 1964 state champion Kellogg boys basketball team, coached by Don Haynes, will also be inducted.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.