By word from Jeff Gold in Binghamton, I have learned that the Hudson Valley girls won the gold medal, 69-62 in OT over Central. Hudson Valley trailed by one with 6.8 seconds left when Alaina Walker of Albertus Magnus hit a free throw to send the game into OT. HV then dominated the extra period.

Sophia Aleksandravicius of Holy Child (right) led the way with 16 points. It gave the green and gold its second gold medal in four years. The scholastic team last won gold in Poughkeepsie in 2005, and finished as the silver medalist to Western in each of the last two years.

UPDATE (3:10 P.M.) — Here’s a little more I heard from Jeff that I thought was important…Hudson Valley didn’t hold a real lead in the game until OT, when Maggie Blair of Briarcliff knocked down a 3 to put the green and gold up by two.

Also, although she was shy with the trigger on her shot, Jeff said Lourdes sophomore Teneka Whittaker played excellent defensively, harassing opposing ball handlers. Obviously (and we already knew this), Whittaker has a very bright future, as evident by her playing a key role on an ESG gold medalist so soon into her high school career.

All Hudson Valley needed to do in today’s game against Central was not allow 79 points. It could lose by 40 and still play for gold as long as the score was 78-38. That’s the advantage of a perfect record.

Turns out HV won anyway, 67-62. The reward? Another meeting with Central, which apparently did enough to advance too. They’ll meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow for the gold medal.

After an opening win over New York City, Hudson Valley fell to 1-1 in the Games with a 61-59 loss to Adirondack. Julianne Vianni led the way with 20 points, including four 3s. Emma Markley tossed in 13.

Next up is tonight’s 8 p.m. battle with Fantasia Goodwin and Central. Central smoked Long Island in its first game.

The open women started strong as well, beginning their gold medal defense with a 72-53 victory over NYC. Emma Markley, formerly of Yorktown and currently of Harvard, led the way with 22 points. Tara Flaherty (Hastings/Fairfield) and Julianne Viani (Lourdes/Marist) each hit double figures as well.

Interestingly enough, Fantasia Goodwin is playing, but the MLK grad who is fresh off an excellent college career at Monroe and Syracuse is a member of the Central squad. She had 24 points yesterday as Central doubled up Long Island. I’m sure there were a few rebounds to go along with the scoring. You can count on that.

Hudson Valley plays Adirondack tonight but the result hasn’t been posted. You will be able to catch it later tonight on the ESG website. 

Another day, another lopsided affair for the Hudson Valley scholastic squad, which won 96-47 over Adirondack today. Maggie Blair of Briarcliff (19 points), the state and state Federation MVP, and Sophia Aleksandravicius of Holy Child (16 points) led another balanced effort.

The girls play Central at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Dan Ricci told me that it could be Central — not Western — which gives HV its toughest challenge. I’ll try to pass along the result when it comes down tomorrow afternoon.

You can get the full box scores for both games so far at this web page.

So far, oh so good for the HV girls at Empires. The scholastic women dominated New York City 101-42 in its opener as Shelby Sferra of Ursuline led the way with 21 points. Four others were in double figures (Alaina Walker, Sophia Aleksandravicius, Gillian Felix and Alexandra Osborn-Jones).

For more on the ESGs log on to our blog.

Not only have I returned from sunny Saint Lucia boys and girls, but so, too, have the Empire State Games, which are back (albeit not from a Honeymoon) to add a little excitement to our summer.

Last we saw them the Hudson Valley girls fared pretty well despite the stifling confines of Westchester Community College (no air conditioning). The scholastic girls won the silver, falling to Shenise Johnson and Rochester in the gold-medal game, and the open team won the gold.

Both should have a good chance again, Porsha Postell or not. Johnson is gone and the HV scholastic team has returned a few of its best players from a year ago. The open team is truly loaded, and with its contingent of D-I players from the area it should at least make it to the gold medal game.

For all the latest on the ESGs, you can log on to our Empire State Games blog and for news, photos and videos of the events you can check our our ESG home page.

Both women’s teams open with NYC, the scholastic at 2 p.m. and the open at 8 p.m. They each play Adirondack on Friday and Central on Saturday, with the medal games set for Sunday morning.

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say I’m headed off on my honeymoon in the morning so you won’t hear from me for a couple weeks. The new wife and I are taking our deep breaths now after several months of planning. Wedding preparation can get pretty crazy, as many of our readers can attest.

If you have any questions, concerns, breaking news, etc., Jake is your guy. You can e-mail him at jtthomas@lohud.com.

Enjoy your July!