Oak Hill Academy (Va.) entered play on Thursday with the nation's No. 1 ranking, and the Warriors left the floor with smiles on their faces and their index fingers held high.

Rashaad Carruth hit seven 3-pointers to lead Oak Hill to a 66-55 victory over Mater Dei (Calif.) in the championship game of the Powerade Holiday Prep Classic Millennium Cup at Green Valley.

Mater Dei entered the game ranked No. 3 by USA Today and No. 2 by Fox/Student Sports. That left Carruth and company anxious to prove they were still on top.

"It's always important to keep your No. 1," said Carruth, the tournament's Most Valuable Player. "I think we earned it tonight. Previously, we were just handed it because of our players, but I think we deserved it tonight."

Carruth was a big reason for the Warriors' victory. He scored a game-high 25 points, going 7-for-11 on 3-point attempts.

"He's got the green light on our team," Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. "When he's got the jump shot, he takes it."

On Thursday, Carruth took all types of jumpers. He spotted up on the wing, he came around picks, he even put the ball on the floor and shot over a pair of defenders.

"If I think I can hit it, I'm going to shoot it," Carruth said. "And that's how I felt today. I had to be aggressive shooting the ball, so I did that."

Carruth had struggled Wednesday night in a 70-58 semifinal victory over Bishop Gorman, going only 3-for-14 from the field and 3-for-12 from 3-point range.

"I didn't think he would shoot poorly two games in a row," Smith said. "I told him in front of the whole team before the game that he was going to shoot the basketball.

"You could tell he was on tonight."

After Mater Dei scored the first four points of the second half to make it 33-29, Carruth hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 36-29. Just over a minute later, he hit two more 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push the lead to 44-32, and Mater Dei was unable to get close the rest of the way.

Oak Hill also did the job defensively, holding Mater Dei to 33.9 percent shooting from the field. Part of the credit for the strong defense goes to 7-foot Oak Hill center DeSagana Diop, who had nine blocked shots.

"We just tried to get after them," Carruth said. "Mater Dei is a very good team. We just had to get out, pressure them and make them drive to the hole."

Diop and Billy Edelin joined Carruth on the all-tournament team. Cedric Bozeman, who scored 20 points in the title game, and teammates Jamal Sampson and Ricky Porter represented Mater Dei.

The tournament title is the fifth for Oak Hill. The Warriors previously won the tournament in 1986, 1992, 1994 and 1998.

"I've been here eight times, so obviously I like the tournament," Smith said. "And we've been lucky enough to win it five times. It's a very good tournament, well run, and we always enjoy coming."