I would say that the best theme to address those key points listed, would be: A. Feeling hopeless is unreasonable when faced with challenges. In other words, we shouldn't feel as if the end of that world is at hand, just because challenges and tests come our way. That is to be expected. Hope that helps.
I think it’s the last one
If you've provided some options, It would be much better. Anyway, I'd go with this: Having suffered 8 consecutive defeats, the members of the team felt understandably <span>apathetic</span> before their last game of the season.
I think the word you're looking for is transitions
