Patchogue-Medford had an amazing season in 2023-2024, getting off to a 7-1 start and making it to playoffs, where the Raiders lost to Commack on a pair of last-minute Commack free throws.

Pat-Med finished at 14-7, the most wins for the program since 1977-78.

It’s a different look this year.

The Raiders are rebuilding after losing their entire starting lineup to graduation. They lost a total of 53 points per game in offense, including Angel Redding (16 ppg), Matt Eichorn (14 ppg) and Isaiah Gilliam (13 ppg), who is playing for SUNY Oneonta.

The first regular-season test for the new-look Raiders came on Nov. 30 when they traveled to Smithtown West for a game that Smithtown West won, 74-36.

The game was close at halftime with Pat-Med down just 28-22, but Smithtown West outscored the Raiders 21-11 in the third quarter and never looked back.

There were several bright spots for Pat-Med, including 6-foot-5 senior forward Dominic Pertillar, who led the team with 17 points. Pertillar, who came off the bench last season, will be getting a lot more playing time as a starter this season.

Freshman guard Darius Erves scored 14 points and senior guard Joe Crawford added 11.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys,” second-year head coach Tim Trava said. “Some of these guys have never even played in a high school basketball game. Some of them weren’t on the JV last year, so it’s going to take a couple of weeks.”

Trava said it takes time for players new to the team to learn the plays, but he liked the effort his team showed.

“We battled,” he said. “We didn’t stop playing. We played hard.”

After playing Smithtown West, the Raiders lost their next two games: 61-46 to Ward Melville on Dec. 3 and 50-34 to Sachem North on Dec. 5.

The Raiders open league play on Dec. 10 at Central Islip. Their league home opener is Dec. 12 against William Floyd.