Los Angeles Teams Qualify for Maccabee Basketball Finals

The boys and girls basketball teams from Los Angeles qualified Wednesday for the finals of the Junior Maccabee Games in Toronto.

The boys team, coached by Montclair Prep Coach Howard Abrams, defeated Baltimore, 70-31, in the quarterfinals and Chicago, 77-51, in the semifinals Wednesday. Los Angeles will play the National Team of Israel in the final today.

The girls team, coached by former Alemany High player Ilene Hauser, knocked off Philadelphia, 54-30, in the semifinals Wednesday and will play Chicago in today’s final.

Jon Drezner of Calabasas was the high scorer for Los Angeles against Baltimore, collecting 20 points. He had 16 against Chicago, while Steve Stolzoff of University High in Irvine was tops on the team with 21.

“The crowd was chanting ‘Beat L.A.,’ ” Abrams said of the game with Chicago. “It got them fired up. We were down, 4-0, and they were throwing streamers on the floor. They had to stop the game.”

Jenny Beubis of Alemany led the girls against Philadelphia with 14 points. Stacy Waco of the Chatsworth Academy had 11. Beubis, a Times’ All-Valley selection last season, has been Los Angeles’ leading scorer in every game.