Basketball is a numbers game, and Winlock’s 60-48 loser-out victory over Highland was a perfect example.

Some of the key numbers in this game:

Highland's Patrick Newman drives around Winlock's Nathan Booth during Thursday morning's game.   KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic

• 18 — This is the age Winlock senior Nathan Booth turned Thursday, leading to a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” by the Cardinal assemblage in the stands.

• 27 and 10 — These are the number of points and rebounds Booth accumulated, the former a season high, in ensuring  the Cardinals would not be done for the season.

• 6 1/4 — The difference, in inches, between the average Highland starter (5-foot-11) and the average Winlock starter (6-5 1/4), helping the Cardinals to their 37-28 rebounding advantage.

But, when it came to determining the difference in the game, those numbers paled in comparison to these two: 42 and eight. That was the disparity in free throws taken by the two teams, one that was not exaggerated by the trailing team fouling to get the ball back. That didn’t happen once.

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Winlock (22-3) simply got to shoot 42 free throws. The Scotties, whose season ended with a 14-11 record, shot eight.

Highland coach Josh Borland, who was hit with a technical foul during the game, took the high road after the game. “Well,” he said, trying to come up with a way to justify the one-sidedness, “sometimes height gives you the illusion that there are fouls on the shorter team.”

Highland senior Patrick Newman — who, incidentally, was bounced to the floor three times on drives to the basket without a foul being called — also didn’t blame the officiating. “That was our game plan, to take it inside, and it was working, for a while anyway,” said Newman, who finished with 24 points. “We fought hard, we stuck with our game plan. We were right there, but they made their free throws.”

The Scotties sank 20 field goals to Winlock’s 17, and made four 3-pointers to Winlock’s none. The free throws were one of the two primary deciding factors.

The other was Booth, who shot 7-for-9 from the field and 13-for-15 from the line. After the Cardinals’ opening-round loss to Brewster, Booth had told coach Gary Viggers he wasn’t losing Thursday.

“He told me he didn’t want to go home,” Viggers said. “And he went after them, just like he said he would. He hustled hard, worked for rebounds, made his shots. He didn’t want to go home.”

“I went to bed saying that,” said Booth, who scored 13 points during the Cardinals’ 16-8 third-quarter run as Winlock. “We’re more of a third-quarter team anyway. We got a lot more looks because we got to moving better, working the ball a lot more instead of putting up dumb shots.”

Even after the Cardinals turned a slender 25-23 lead into a 51-31 rout early in the final quarter, though, the Scotties didn’t quit. They pulled to within 55-46 and, 30 seconds later, Newman went in for a layup, collided with an airborne defender and went down hard. No call. Seconds later, the Scotties were called for a hand-slap at midcourt, and the Cardinals were back to shooting free throws.

“That,” Borland said, “pretty much ended our run right there.”

Borland lauded his players’ effort, adding, “These kids played with a lot of heart.”

They just didn’t have the numbers.

Highland -- Weise 4-8 0-0 8, Perez 0-6 1-3 1, Ramos 1-4 0-0 3, Fuller 2-4 0-0 6, Hyde 1-2 0-0 2, M. Newman 0-2 0-0 0, Podruzny 2-3 0-0 4, P. Newman 10-27 3-5 24, Pulido 0-0 0-0 0, Hampton 0-1 0-0 0, Hakala 0-0 0-0 0, Hein 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 4-8 48.
Winlock -- Hertz 2-7 7-14 11, Kupers 0-0 0-0 0, Diamond 2-2 0-0 4, Kent 0-1 0-1 0, Sanchez 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 3-8 3-4 9, Booth 7-9 13-15 27, N. Hoven 0-1 0-0 0, McCarthy 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 3-7 3-8 9, M. Hoven 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-36 26-42 60.
Highland	10	13	8	17	--	48
Winlock	12	13	16	19	--	60
3-point goals--H 4-18 (Fuller 2-3, Ramos 1-4, P. Newman 1-5, Hyde 0-1, M. Newman 0-1, Hampton 0-1, Perez 0-3), W 0-1 (Davis 0-1). Rebounds--H 28 (Weise 10), W 37 (Davis 12, Booth 10). Assists--H 2 (Perez 2), W 3. Steals--H 12 (Weise 4, Perez 4), W 6 (Hertz 5). Blocked shots--H 2 (P. Newman 2), W 1. Fouled out--Podruzny, Hampton, Brown. Total fouls--H 25, W 15. Technical fouls--H bench. Turnovers--H 14, W 19.