It wasn’t exactly March Madness.

At times, the antics on the court bore a closer resemblance to the Harlem Globetrotters than serious basketball.

But none of the spectators seemed to mind a bit because in the end, the Wildcat Hoop-La, a celebrity game of hoops held Saturday night at Oxford High School, was all about having fun and supporting a worthy local cause.

When the final buzzer sounded, the score was tied at 84 apiece, but the real winner was the community as a giant $4,000 check was presented to benefit the Fourth Annual Lone Ranger Parade, set to roll through downtown Oxford on Saturday, Aug. 6.

“This helps us a lot,” said Oxford resident Rod Charles, a founding member of the Lone Ranger Posse, a group of volunteers that created the parade in 2013.

“We’ve been self-funding this (parade) for a couple years now. This ($4,000 donation) goes a long ways toward helping us put together a phenomenal event for the Oxford community.”

A mix of sponsorship money and ticket sales from the Wildcat Hoop-La, organized by the school district, made the parade donation possible. At least 520 tickets were sold for the event.

Charles noted the donation shows the school district, under the leadership of Superintendent Tim Throne, wants to be “part of the larger community in Oxford” and not just limit its involvement to school-related functions as had been the practice in recent years.

“It’s really great to have our school system back again,” he said.

Serving as coaches in the Hoop-La were local football legends and Wildcat Hall of Famers Zach Line and Dave Rayner.

Line, a 2008 OHS graduate who’s been playing fullback for the Minnesota Vikings since 2013, coached the gold team.

Rayner, a 2001 OHS graduate who kicked for 10 National Football League teams (including the Detroit Lions) from 2005-11, coached the blue team.

Each team consisted of teachers, administrators and local celebrities.

Although both coaches are fierce competitors used to the high stakes world of professional sports, neither of them seemed disappointed in – or surprised by – the tie score.

“Everybody wins,” Rayner said. “It was a blast. We’ll be back next week.”

The score was by no means based on traditional rules. It was a combination of baskets made by players, shoot-offs between the coaches and extra points earned by elementary school students through a series of wacky contests held at center court during scheduled time-outs.

These contests involved everything from eating Oreo cookies without using hands and completing puzzles to tossing hula hoops around pop bottles and ripping tissue papers out of boxes as fast as possible.

“It was an interesting game,” Line said. “It was a lot of fun. I think my team played really hard. We had a couple people that were surprisingly good.”

At the end of the game, Rayner had an opportunity to break the tie and claim victory for his team, but unfortunately, he missed the free throw – no doubt a result of Line’s attempt to distract him by standing behind the basket and waving his arms.

“I’m going to be shooting free throws until 2 (o’clock) in the morning – just kidding,” Rayner said.

Following the game, Rayner and Line graciously signed loads of autographs and posed for photos, much to the delight of eager kids and excited adults.