David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

them, ‘We’re not the best basketball
team out there.’ But they understood
their roles.” A twelve-year-old girl
would go to war for Rometra. “They
were awesome,” she said.
Lawrence attacked the Turks where
they were weak—along the farthest,
most deserted outposts of the railroad—
and not where they were strong.
Redwood City attacked the inbounds
pass, the point in a game where a great
team is as vulnerable as a weak one.
David refused to engage Goliath in close
quarters, where he would surely lose.
He stood well back, using the full valley
as his battlefield. The girls of Redwood
City used the same tactic. They defended
all ninety-four feet of the basketball