Augusta, GA
‘I know she’s smiling’: Local coach’s influence lives on
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – As the graduates from Cross Creek High School file in to take their seats, joy in the James Brown Arena is palpable.
Everywhere you look, there’s a loved one celebrating.
Quanda Ball should be one of them.
The 43-year-old’s body was found in a car at Pendleton King Park Tuesday. Investigators are calling her death “suspicious.”
“She would have been clapping and yelling and screaming,” said Krystle Johnson. “She would have been really proud.”
Ball never had any children of her own, but it’s fair to say, she still had a lot of kids.
Krystle Johnson met Ball through a mutual friend when they were looking for a coach for the Lady Grinders, a local girls travel basketball team. She says Ball instantly became family to the girls on the team.
“She was that Auntie that they needed,” Johnson laughed.
Just ask Michaela Bogans.
She started playing for “Coach Q” in the 6th grade.
“I know she’s smiling right now,” Bogans said.
Bogans will be playing at the next level next year; she signed to play Division I basketball at Morgan State and leaves for Baltimore in July.
Bogans helped lead Cross Creek to four region titles and the Lady Razorbacks’ first-ever state championship.
“Coach Q, she means a lot to me. She was amazing. She told me I could do anything that I put my mind to,” Bogans said. “She was an inspiration to me. I looked up to her.”
Ball was quite the baller herself, playing D I ball for William and Mary.
Before that, she helped lead Curtis Baptist to the 1996 GISA state championship. The following year, she played for Richmond Academy and helped her team win the 1997 GHSA AAA High School State Championship. They were the first-ever team from Augusta to win a state championship in Class AAA.
“She was a really good person,” said Tiara Turner, a 2024 grad from Cross Creek. “A nice person. A good coach – a GREAT coach.”
Turner has been playing for Coach Q since middle school. Cross Creek teammate and fellow 2024 graduate Alaya Henry says she learned a lot about life from Coach Q.
“I had a game where I walked out of the gym, and she followed me out there and told me to tighten up – do it for the team,” said Henry. “Can’t just think about yourself no more.”
On this day of celebration, the Cross Creek graduates are thinking about others; they’re reflecting on how they each got to this point. For the young ladies Coach Q mentored, that means celebrating Coach Q’s impact, too.
“There’s a song that we would sing in church called ‘May The Work That I’ve Done Speak For Me,” Johnson said. “And I hope the work that Quanda has done in our community – especially with our girls – continues to live on.”
As an AAU coach, she wasn’t just a mentor for girls at Cross Creek; she coached girls in schools all across Richmond County.
When she wasn’t on the court, Ball also worked as a nurse, dedicating her life to caring for others.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, Ga. – Augusta managed just five hits and one run and fell to Georgia Southwestern 12-1 Sunday as the Hurricanes win two of the three games of the series. The Jaguars are now 7-2 in Peach Belt Conference play and 11-8 overall. The Canes improve to 7-2 in conference play and 12-7 overall.
Georgia Southwestern scored runs in all but one inning including four runs in the first two innings and plated five runs in the fifth, highlighted by a grand slam.
The only Augusta run would come in the fourth inning. Landon Leonard would reach on an error and would come around when Kent Moon reached on a fielder’s choice that would plate Leonard.
Leonard, Moon, Davis Newman, Harris Bachelder and Jakob Cowart would collect the hits for the Jaguars.
Augusta will next be in action on Friday when the open up a three game series with Lander at Jaguar Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:00 p.m.
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Local protestors made their voices heard after Israel and the U.S. announced strikes on Iran Saturday, ones that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reports say.
Protesters lined 13th Street in Downtown Augusta and walked across the river to North Augusta to make sure as many people as possible heard them.
50501 CSRA already had a march planned for Saturday, but in light of the strikes on Iran, decided to expand its focus.
Local leaders spoke about their concerns for the strikes, and roughly 60 people showed up to share theirs as well.
One of the event organizers said to make your voice heard your voice heard.
“Just call your people, call your representatives, if you don’t like that Iran was bombed, I don’t either. But call people and let them know, email them. Let it be relentless. Congress did not approve this. They have a say in this,” Zee Cook said.
The strike is being called “Operation Epic Fury,” with Iran responding with multiple missile and drone strikes across the Middle East.
In a social media post, President Trump said the bombing of the country will continue “as long as necessary.”
People across the world began lining the streets as well in support and against the decision.
Leaders across the world reacted to the news, including those in Georgia and South Carolina.
There’s a protest planned in Charleston and other regional cities this week.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The city of Augusta announced a temporary closure of New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam Park.
Closure of the park at 2105 Lock and Dam Road will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the lock and dam structure.
The park will be closed from March 4 to April 7.
All areas of the park will be closed.
However, the Baurle Boat Ramp will remain open and accessible to the public for fishing and boating activities.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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