They say "Clovis is a way of life," and Eric Swain is finding comfort in it under mixed circumstances.

There's his 14-2 Buchanan High boys basketball team, which made the Central Section's strongest statement of the season Wednesday in a 55-47 win at second-ranked Bakersfield.

There's Alex Fertig, his four-year senior guard, who scored 31 points against the Drillers and needs 24 tonight at Washington to become the section's 16th player to reach 2,000 for a career.

There's Ryan Swain, his 6-5 senior son, who's also played four years in a program that's rivaled neighbor Clovis West standards by winning 69 games during that span.

And, above all, there's Kelly Swain, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and, since, has undergone chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and additional medication.

"Right now she's cancer free, doctors are optimistic and it's as good as it can be," her husband says.

All things considered, the man who formerly coached at two high schools in Reno is happy to be in Clovis.

"Reno has similar demographics, but I don't know that we'd be getting the support that we're getting here," Swain says. "The support we've had -- from students, parents, coaches, teachers, our church -- how people have stepped up has just been unbelievable.

"Obviously, this has been traumatic, but we found out how many people are out there for us."

Best of the Bears?

We'll know in two months if this is the best of Buchanan boys basketball.

For years hardly a footnote buried under the booming headlines of district neighbor Clovis West, the Bears' credibility has been established under seven-year coach Swain.

They've averaged 18.3 wins over the past four seasons, had Bee All-Stars in Brandon Sperling, Jackson Carbajal and Fertig, delivered a piece of only the program's second league title in its 20-year history and placed second to Clovis East for the 2010 section Division I championship.

Now the latest group, while not as deep in offensive firepower as some in the past, is difficult to defend with the inside-outside ability of the 6-3 Fertig (averaging 27 points), stabilized by Ryan Swain and progressively growing with the likes of guards Josh Ault and Zach Rutherford, and forward Kyle Smith.

"This is by far the best team chemistry we've had, and I honestly didn't realize how important it really is until this year," Eric Swain says.

No section team has earned a more golden D-I seeding star than Buchanan by virtue of the road win at Bakersfield.

The previous most impressive was top-ranked Bullard's 77-59 rout of No. 3 Central for the Holiday Invitational championship at Hoover on Dec. 22.

Buchanan, thus, would likely be set up for the top seed given an outright title in the Tri-River Athletic Conference.

The Bears wouldn't need to go unbeaten in the TRAC, just win it solo.

Then, again, that's making a historical request of a school that for all its all-around athletic excellence has never won a league title outright in boys hoops.

A win Tuesday could go a long way toward breaking the mold, but it promises to be a battle -- at Central.