Fans cheered for two teams Tuesday at the University of West Georgia Coliseum as a team of Harlem Globetrotter veterans took on the Carroll County Crushers as part of a charity basketball game.

Despite the Harlem All-Stars’ 70-53 victory over a team comprised of Carroll County community leaders, the community still emerged a winner. The event was a fundraiser to help send the Central High School marching band to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day 2011. It will cost about $250,000 to take the band out west.

“We owe the community a huge thank you,” said senior trumpet player Courtney Talley. “It’s amazing.”

The All-Stars maintained a 20-point lead and had spectators grinning throughout the Coliseum. The team’s antics included pretending to toss water on the crowd, pushing the buzzer and tossing the ball to members of the audience.

Savannah Kinney, a student at Sharp Creek Elementary School, laughed at the Globetrotter legends and enjoyed the team’s antics. She wanted to buy a ticket to the game to help her school win a prize for the school that sold the most tickets.

“I liked when (Elbert ‘Tree’ Gordon) shot the ball and got stuck in the basket, kicking his feet,” said Savannah Kinney, 7, a Sharp Creek Elementary School student. “It’s funny. ... It’s been awesome.”

Central High School Band Booster treasurer Debbie Weeks said Roopville Elementary School sold the most tickets to the game and would receive the prize of $500 and an autographed basketball. She said final ticket sales and funds raised are not yet known, but more than 3,000 tickets were sold prior to the day of the game.

Donovan Dunson, 13, a student at Central Middle School, got a preview of Tuesday’s game when TyRone “Hollywood” Brown and Elbert “Tree” Gordon visited his school last week and demonstrated a few tricks. He wanted to see his baseball coach, Walter Dunson, play in the game.

“I liked the reactions of the crowd ... when they pretended to throw water on them,” he said. “I thought there was really water in” the bucket.

Carrollton resident Ellen Mitchell came out to support the Central High School band, of which she used to be a member.

“I liked the way the Globetrotters teased the audience,” she said. “I thought it was very family oriented.”

During halftime, when the Tournament of Roses Parade flag was formally presented to Central High School band director Neil Ruby, the crowd stood up and cheered and remained on their feet while the band performed several songs.

Senior clarinet player Rebecca Newell said she was just as impressed with Central High Principal’s Shawn Tobin’s basketball skills as she was the community outpouring.

“We never expected so much community support,” she said. “We never thought Tobin had game.”

Mike Kinney, a Temple High School biology teacher, attended the game with his wife and daughter. He saw the Globetrotters perform in the mid-1970s and always remembered it.

“I loved Meadowlark Lemon’s antics,” he said. “They’re world famous.”

Trenida Baskin attended the game because she and her husband knew one of the men playing for the Crushers. Her favorite part was when Lemon put a basketball up the shirt of a Carrollton player and the player started running before realizing the ball was in his shirt.

“It’s entertaining and kind of fun,” she said. “I think it’s for a good cause, supporting the school and the band.”